Whanganui Regional Museum Unveils Photographic Exhibition Celebrating Historic Waiuta Mining Town

Whanganui Regional Museum is proud to announce the opening of a new photographic exhibition which showcases the once-thriving mining community of Waiuta through the evocative images of renowned photographer Joseph Divis.

Cast in Light: Life in a Mining Town, curated by the National Library, offers a glimpse into Waiuta’s golden days in the early 1930s, when over 500 people—mostly miners and their families—called this isolated West Coast town home. Cast in Light features a stunning selection of Divis’ photographs, taken between 1931 and 1935, capturing the essence of life in a once prosperous mining town.

Joseph Divis (1885-1967), a Bohemian immigrant who arrived in New Zealand in 1909, made his living as a gold miner and photographed the mining communities where he lived and worked. His work is now housed at the Alexander Turnbull Library, where it continues to be celebrated for its historical significance and artistic quality.

Simon Nathan, Divis’ biographer, played a key role in developing the exhibition and describes it as a unique record of life in a mining town at its most prosperous. “Cast in Light allows us to explore the lives, landscapes, and legacies of a mining community. Waiuta is now a ghost town, but Divis’ photographs remind us of what it was like.” 

Dr. Bronwyn Labrum, Director of Whanganui Regional Museum, expressed her excitement about bringing this significant exhibition to the local community. "We are thrilled to present Cast in Light to our visitors. Joseph Divis’ photographs provide a window into a time and place that shaped New Zealand’s history. This exhibition not only showcases Divis’ remarkable talent but also honours the resilience of the mining communities that once thrived on the West Coast."

Cast in Light: Life in a Mining Town is open now. Admission is free. Koha (donations) to support the Museum’s work are always appreciated. 

To further engage the public with the exhibition, the museum will offer a schedule of public programmes over the coming months, including a documentary screening, a Curator’s talk by Simon Nathan, and activities for children.

Exhibition details

Cast in Light: Life in a Mining Town

Open daily 10am-4.30pm (except Christmas Day and Good Friday) from Monday 30th September at Whanganui Regional Museum, Pukenamu Queens Park, Whanganui. Admission is free. 

© Scoop Media