POU TAHARUA : THE FLAGSTAFF EXHIBITION
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Powhiri December 14 2009 - All welcome
Showing 14 Dec 2009 - 14 March 2009

Nearly 165 years after the last of four flagpoles erected on Maiki Hill, Kororareka was felled by Ngapuhi Rangatira Hone Heke and his warriors, remaining pieces of these pou come together in Pou Taharua : The Flagstaff Exhibition. Having lain separated in Museum and private collections throughout New Zealand, these taonga are the remaining physical ev… Continue

We received a wonderful letter from Tyron Clark, Room 3 Waipu Primary School, thanking us for being able to visit our "cool" museum. Tyron says, Thank you for letting us see some old things (was he talking about the objects on display?) and the DVD taught me something. That something is because when I left the museum, I found some glass in the sea. I picked it up and found another piece of glass! It is entirely possible that the piece of glass Tyron found is from an 1800s bottle dropped o… Continue

For just over a week, as local weaver Donna Baker prepared flax strips for the piupiu she is making, the fragrence of fresh cut flax wafted through the museum. I liked it. The process of "doing" rather than "observing" was an important element in the exhibition. It brought our museum environment alive. Here we see Donna preparing the flax strips.

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Sometimes people's donations just take my breath away. We have had two such gifts in the past, one just recently. The museum received a substantial amount of Pauline Yearbury's artwork, so much in fact that it could possibly end up as a traveling exhibition. Pauline and Jim Yearbury are well known for their incised wooden panels, and in particular Pauline’s book “The Children of Rangi and Papa, The Maori story of Creation. First published in 1976 the book was a successful combination of art and… Continue

We are coming up to Matariki (Maori New Year) which starts on 22 June and have a really wonderful opportunity to host a local weaver, Donna Baker as she makes a piupiu. Piupiu maker are rare in New Zealand, especially those who have received excellent training from kuia such as Digress Te Kanawa and Googie Tapsell. Donna will be at the museum from 10.30 am to 3.00 pm Monday to Friday from the 22-26th June 2009. Talking to her about the process of selecting a pattern was interesting as there is a… Continue