From the MTG: Interesting start to new year

Despite the MTG being closed it will still have something temporary on display for the attendees of the Women's Institute centenary celebrations.

Like everyone, we're hoping 2021 will be a better year all round.

It has certainly got off to an interesting start for us with the building closed for urgent remedial work on the sprinkler system. Not quite the start to the year we had hoped for.

Nonetheless, we still have an interesting mix of exhibitions planned for the year.

For Home and Country: women's institutes in Hawke's Bay commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first meeting of a New Zealand Women's Institute (WI) at Rissington, Hawke's Bay on February 27, 1921.

Despite the galleries being closed, we will still have something temporary on display for the attendees of the centenary celebrations being held in Napier, along with the launch of Lifting Horizons, Kay Morris Matthews' book on Anna Elizabeth Jerome Spencer, produced by EIT and MTG.

Anna Spencer, among many other things, was the founder of the Women's Institute in New Zealand, which provided opportunities, support and social activity for women in rural settlements and towns. The full exhibition will be installed as soon as we are able.

Another exhibition this year will be entirely from the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust's collection of late-nineteenth-century botanical artworks by Georgina Burne Hetley.

Hetley used her talent to capture both the beauty and scientific details of New Zealand's flora. These works feature beautiful depictions of common and (now) rare New Zealand plants.

Nature Culture will explore the relationship between humankind and nature and will be an exhibition of artworks, which, each in their own way, express a philosophical or aesthetic connection to the natural world, without explicitly referencing the environmental crisis.

The aim is to create an exhibition that celebrates the cultural value of the natural world. Nature Culture will include a range of works from Hawke's Bay artists and sit alongside key works from the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust collection.

Laura Vodanovich hopes to welcome visitors back into the museum as soon as possible.

These are just a few of the exhibitions planned for 2021 and we hope everyone will find something that resonates with them.

For those who are worried they may have missed A Bloody Business: the history of five Hawke's Bay freezing works, rest assured this exhibition will still be on display when we reopen.

This exhibition explores the effect the frozen meat processing industry had on the socio-economics of the Hawke's Bay region.

Depending on when the museum reopens we may extend the end date for this particular display to ensure everyone who is interested can see this exhibition and bring family, friends and former freezing work colleagues to view this important slice of Hawke's Bay history. We've received a lot of positive feedback on this exhibition which seems to be resonating well with the community.

Meanwhile, we will continue our work with the Joint Working Group (Hastings and Napier Councils, Hawke's Bay Museums Trust and Ngāti Kahungunu) on resolving long-term storage for the collection. This group is also looking at the governance structure for MTG Hawke's Bay.

Please know that, while the galleries may be closed, the MTG Century Theatre will reopen on January 27. Access to the collections and archives at the off-site store continues as normal and our very popular cemetery tours with curator Gail Pope will restart this month.

We apologise for the inconvenience of having the facility closed, however, the safety of our staff and visitors is paramount. We will keep you updated on expected reopening dates for the museum as timing of the remedial works becomes clearer.

In the meantime, I hope the New Year starts well for everyone and we look forward to welcoming you back into your museum as soon as we can.

Laura Vodanovich is MTG director

WHAT'S ON

· Napier Hill Cemetery Tour. Old Napier Cemetery, Sunday, January 24, 2pm. Discover tales of tragedy and bravery as the tour winds its way through this historic cemetery guided by MTG's Curator of Social History, Gail Pope. Tickets available through Eventfinda.