National museum and gallery focus on Hawke's Bay

1 April 2014

National museum and gallery focus on Hawke's Bay

Over 200 museum and gallery professionals are converging on Hawke's Bay this week. 'The Business of Culture', this year's Museums Aotearoa conference, will explore the implications and opportunities that business models bring to cultural institutions.

"This is a timely focus for our public museums and galleries as we strive to actively evolve in a climate of continuing budget constraints – the balance between economic and social or cultural goals is a tricky one," says Phillipa Tocker, Executive Director of Museums Aotearoa. "Here in Napier, the spotlight is currently on our host, MTG Hawke's Bay. The same questions are being asked in Dunedin, Wellington and elsewhere, and it's vital that we share and learn from each other and from international colleagues."

Coming from the UK, international keynote speaker Laura Wright, is CEO of Tate Enterprises, the revenue-generating arm of the Tate galleries. Wright will highlight some of their successes and learning over the last few years, during a period of drastic public spending cuts, particularly in the cultural sector. The other international speaker is Kate Clark, a Sydney-based heritage consultant who has led outcomes evaluation for UK's Heritage Lotteries Fund and more recently the transformation of Historic Houses NSW into Sydney Living Museums. While in New Zealand, Wright will also give talks to museum sector colleagues in Auckland and Wellington, and Clark will provide workshops in Christchurch and Auckland on significance analysis and the value of cultural objects.

Among the other speakers are Ganesh Nana, BERL's Chief Economist from Wellington, and many experts from the museum and gallery sector with topics ranging from admission charges and alternative fundraising strategies to bicultural business models.

As well as directors and experienced professionals, this year there is also a strong contingent of 'emerging professionals', who have been encouraged to take a more active part in convening and presenting conference sessions. "We're looking forward to adding their new vision to the wisdom of experience at this conference. It is essential the we all embrace change and new thinking," says Tocker.

Conference delegates at Thursday night's NZ Museum Awards dinner in Napier will celebrate the very best of exhibitions, projects and innovations. With a record number of entries, the judging panel has selected 19 finalists in 6 categories.

ENDS

New Zealand Museum Awards 2014 Finalists
in alphabetical order by category
Auckland War Memorial Museum
Moana - My Ocean
Canterbury Museum
RISE - Street Art
Best Exhibition
over $20,000
Christchurch Art Gallery
Burster Flipper Wobbler Dripper Spinner Stacker Shaker Maker
Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Sir Frank Brangwyn: Captain Winterbottom and the Billiard Room of
Horton House
Tauranga Art Gallery
Corrugations: the art of Jeff Thomson
Best Exhibition
under $20,000
Te Awamutu Museum
Toi Ki Roto - Art inside from the Te Ao Marama Unit, Waikeria Prison
New Zealand Historic Places Trust
High Street Stories www.highstreetstories.co.nz
Rotorua Museum
On the Wing - Urban Release of the New Zealand Falcon
Best Museum
Project
(activity)
Te Hikoi
Taonga Toki Project
Canterbury Museum
Quake City
MTG Hawke's Bay
MTG Hawke's Bay Redevelopment Project
Best Museum
Project
(organisation)
Whakatane Museum
Te Kōputu a Te Whanga a Toi development
Canterbury Museum
Red Zone Bus Tours
Museums Wellington
Great Strike 1913
New Zealand Historic Places Trust and New Zealand Film Archive
Reel Life in Rural New Zealand
Most Innovative
Public
Programme
Voyager NZ Maritime Museum
Auckland Tall Ships Festival
Hastings City Art Gallery
Te Taniwha
MTG Hawke's Bay
Ūkaipō - ō tātou whakapapa, Taonga Māori exhibition
Most Innovative
use of Te Reo
Māori
Voyager NZ Maritime Museum
Kōrero Tipua

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