Waikato Museum calls on its social media community to create a virtual exhibition

Waikato Museum has launched a new social media initiative, calling on its online community to create a virtual exhibition by sharing photos of their favourite items on social media sites using the hashtag #mywaikatomuseum.

"As a museum, we thought it would be a great idea to ask people to contribute to a virtual exhibition of their own under the hashtag mywaikatomuseum," Waikato Museum Director Cherie Meecham says.
"We're asking our community… if there was a 'Museum of You', what would you choose to put on the walls?

"The choice could be an artwork or treasured family heirloom, but it could also be your favourite piece of mid-century china, an old and useful tool, or that favourite T-shirt that you never quite managed to throw out. We also suggest anyone posting to #mywaikatomuseum should add a few words to tell a story about it, and why it's important to them."

The museum's social history curator Nadia Gush says: "Once people start posting online we may also consider choosing some of the photographs and stories to create a 'real' exhibition in the future.

"Meanwhile, we hope to provide our community with opportunities to interact with us, and each other, online while our physical buildings are currently closed."

She says the hashtag will work best on Instagram and Twitter, but Facebook users could look for the museum's Facebook post on the hashtag campaign, which will be pinned to the top of the museum's Facebook page, and reply to it with their own pictures and stories.

For more info go to:

• https://www.facebook.com/waikatomuseum
• https://www.instagram.com/waikatomuseum
• https://twitter.com/WaikatoMuseum
• or search for #mywaikatomuseum on Instagram or Twitter