Our Treasures: How you can help decide which stories Whangārei Museum tells

The Desk of Dreams public think-tank in action.

The year 2024 is already flying by and is a significant moment in time for Whangārei Museum as it marks the 40th year since the main exhibition hall was opened to the public.

First up in our celebrations is a new concept for survey, the Desk of Dreams. Within the walls of the museum sits a public think-tank and a literal desk that holds the history of the museum while allowing visitors to submit feedback and dream of the future of the museum.

We are at a crossroads as a small regional museum with stories to tell, but which ones?

Across the globe, the role of museums is continually being challenged with the weight of representing time, place and cultures, while also shifting the way we take care of indigenous objects, along with telling the stories they hold and honouring the people who have living links to them.

Our way forward is an exciting time with a lot of work to do, and the visitors who have participated in the Desk of Dreams are already reinforcing many concepts that matter.

Since its launch, the Desk of Dreams has clarified that most visitors to the Kiwi North are there for one thing … Kiwi. Plus, our museum is “a bit musty” – we love the realness of that. It could be “lighter and brighter” and ideally have a life-sized moa.

Taking on board the feedback across the coming months will allow us to develop a refreshed outlook, with the flavour of Northland at the forefront.

In June 1972, the Clarke Family made 56 acres (22.6ha) available for establishing the permanent home for the Whangārei Museum. Those working towards that goal had a vision for a unique building to take the shape of a huge kauri, and by 1984 that dream was reality.

In 2024 we are the connection for our communities through experiences and stories of the people, places, treasures, and natural worlds. Our treasures are the people who celebrate and collaborate with our evolving world.

A museum collection of more than 100,000 objects with a rich archive can support the telling of those stories and our huge exhibition hall can house them.

We encourage anyone with an interest in history, heritage, traditions, or cultures to take a seat at the Desk of Dreams to put their ideas on record and they will potentially find them in place in the future.

Our museum may be a little musty, but you walk in and feel the passing of time with all your senses.

Our signal for meaningful change starts with this humble little desk and a whole lot of potential for new learning opportunities from the past and towards the future.

As academic Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett once said, “… The issue is not a second life as an exhibit. What is at stake is the living links to taonga that never died”.