Why Kiwi history is booming on the internet

June 2007

Why Kiwi history is booming on the internet

The runaway market in historical New Zealand objects and ephemera on Trade Me is among the topics covered at the Making History in Public conference in Wellington this coming weekend (June 29 - July 1).

Historian Stephen Olsen has been studying the diverse and quirky range of material being auctioned on the site, and will try to explain why Trade Me has become so popular for 'trading history in public'.

More than 30 other speakers will address different ways of producing and consuming the past.

Topics include the bizarre phenomena of medieval fantasy ('Middle age madness or living history?), blazing heritage trails in Wellington, and the challenges of writing history for young people in print and online.

Following on from successful public history conferences in recent years, the meeting will reflect on the varieties of ways that history is being made, received and debated in the public arena in 2007. It is being organized by the Professional Historians of New Zealand (PHANZA).

ENDS

© Scoop Media