MTG Hawke's Bay treasures about caring and sharing

Laura Vodanovich

We've a dedicated team of collection staff at MTG Hawke's Bay who work diligently to ensure all the objects we hold are protected and preserved for future generations.

Through packing collection items appropriately, monitoring for pests, as well as maintaining the right environmental conditions, our team provide excellent care for the region's treasures.

They also take care of arrangements when we lend items to other institutions such as packing for travel, arranging transport, and condition reporting.

We share the collection with the community in many ways – exhibitions, loans to other institutions, research visits to the collection store, collections on-line, etc and our collections team are a big part of making this possible.

Yet another piece of work done by this team is the capture of images and information about objects - adding this to the database and online catalogue.

We've recently started sharing more of this information through weekly Facebook posts focusing on individual objects.

On Wednesdays we have "A Curiosity from the Collection" post featuring an unusual or interesting object and providing information about it, it's background or how it came into the collection.

These can range from a squirrel cape stored and transported in a preserving jar, a beanie with UV reactive spikes, through to a crocodile handbag complete with dangling feet.

Our second weekly post, titled "Friday: From Our Archives", has featured a range of items including a John Gully painting of Lake Matheson, a Coptic textile from 700-900AD, an aerial photo showing the devastating effects of fire after the 1931 earthquake, and an early 20th century Hawke's Bay Kennel Club trophy.

The Coptic textile was also the inspiration for two of the stitchery kit sets available at the MTG shop.

These posts provide another way and means for us to share the collection, not just with the region but with people everywhere.

If you'd like to keep in touch with what's happening at the museum and get glimpses of the collection treasures behind the scenes then follow us on Facebook (@mtghawkesbay) or just search for MTG.

And speaking of keeping up to date on what is happening, this weekend is your last chance to view the award winning He Manu Tīoriori exhibition, before it finishes tomorrow, Sunday, July 22, at 5pm.

Traversing 100 years of Ngāti Kahungunu's love affair with music, He Manu Tīoriori explores how Ngāti Kahungunu has been at the forefront of it all - from the Māori Jazz Orchestras of the 1920s and 30s through to the emergence of the Māori Showband era of the 1960s and 70s.

There are amazing items and stories we hold on behalf of the region and we love caring for these and sharing them with the community. We hope you love it too!

• NZ Mountain Film Festival, amazing films celebrating Kiwis getting out there and doing it, Today, Saturday 21 July, starts 7.30pm. Tickets available from MTG.

• NZIFF starts August 30 – more information available soon.

• Laura Vodanovich is the director of the Museum Theatre Gallery (MTG) Hawke's Bay.