Pick & Mix: Staff get two choices for exhibit

Jo Doherty with an item that is part of the Pick & Mix exhibition. Photo / Ben Fraser

If you were allowed to go into the Rotorua Museum store room to pick just two works to go on display, what would you pick?

This was the predicament faced by museum staff as they prepared for their new exhibition Pick & Mix.

It showcases more than 50 assorted treasures chosen by members of staff from the collections held in storage.

Marketing manager Jo Doherty said a wide variety of works had been chosen for the exhibition.

The brief was they could not choose fragile works that would not last the exhibition, works that had been featured recently, or those earmarked for a future exhibition.

"That narrowed it down a wee bit," she said.

"We had carte blanche to go down and choose to our personal taste. Every member of staff got to pick two pieces."

The works are now on display with information on the item, as well as an explanation from the staff member who chose it .

Ms Doherty said she picked one artwork because she "burst out laughing" when she saw it.

There were a few objects that were chosen more than once, which meant some staff members had to find something else to put on display.

"Some of our staff get to go into the collections quite a lot because they work in that area, but others don't get to go in there at all, so from that perspective it was really neat. Even the cafe staff got to choose."

-The exhibition runs until May 10.

DETAILS

WHAT: Pick & Mix
WHERE: Rotorua Museum
WHEN: Every day until May 10
HOW MUCH: Included in museum admission, free to Rotorua residents with appropriate ID.