Let Us Play
Exhibition/whakaaturanga
Dates: 05/09/18 - 04/11/18Opening: 05/09/18 9:46 am
Clowning Around, Barry Hughes
This multi-media exhibition features Gisborne-born boxer Tom Heeney, who became New Zealand’s first global sporting hero and fought for the world heavyweight title in New York in 1928. A journey through Tom Heeney’s life is a journey through Gisborne at the turn of the twentieth century, into the Roaring Twenties in New York, through two... Read more »
Tairāwhiti Museum continues its long relationship with highly respected local art school Toihoukura and this year presents Tokorau, an exhibition of new works showcasing Toihoukura’s emerging Māori artists supported by staff. Up to 30 students and staff of Toihoukura will exhibit works and stories created during these unprecedented times of COVID-19 2020. Although 2020 has... Read more »
Centuries ago, Tamokai of the inland Te Aowera people spoke to his kinsman Kōkere and said: ‘“Hoake tāua ki te Waiapu tātara e maru ana—“Let us go to Waiapu, where the rain cape is thick.” With its reference to a woven rain cape, usually made of harakeke, this Ngāti Porou whakatauākī speaks of the shelter... Read more »
Fred Foster found a way to make a dollar. Well pre-decimal pounds actually. His plan was to learn how to use a camera and make photographs. That accomplished he took his camera and his sale like charms to his neighbourhood. Knocking on the doors of homes, many newly built, he would talk the lady of... Read more »
Tū te Whaihanga is a resurgence of the creative genius of the past, and carries the cultural aspirations of tangata whenua into the future. Sacred taonga that left the shores of Te Tairāwhiti 250 years ago will return home to be celebrated in the upcoming exhibition, Tū te Whaihanga. The homecoming will see these taonga stand... Read more »
Long before smartphones, selfie sticks and one-swipe filters, having your ‘perfect’ picture taken took practice, preparation and plenty of posing. Early cameras and photographic materials required the sitter to be still for many seconds. While this is often given as the reason for a lack of smiles, a more likely reason is that early portrait... Read more »
Watersheds | Ngā Wai Pupū is Tairāwhiti Museum’s semi-permanent exhibition which gives the visitor a snapshot of the history of the Gisborne/East Coast region. Our exhibition forms a river that flows through the history of Tairāwhiti. Beginning with Māori accounts of how the world began and where people came from, this river of history finishes in... Read more »
The Te Moana Maritime Gallery offers a glimpse into 1000 years of maritime myths, legends, stories and development of the Tairawhiti East Coast region. Also included in this gallery is the arrival of Captain James Cook, the development of Gisborne’s harbour, local shipwrecks, surfing in this region, the fishing industry and surf life saving.
Explore the two-storied wheel- house and captain’s cabin of the Star of Canada, a cargo steamer wrecked on rocks on the Gisborne foreshore on 23 June 1912. Built at Belfast in October 1909 by Messrs Workman Clark and Co, the Star of Canada was a twin screw general cargo steamer of 7,280 tons gross (12,000... Read more »
The Jack C Richards gallery is primarily devoted to the display of twentieth century and contemporary decorative and fine arts. Some of the oldest works on display in the gallery are Émile Gallé’s floral glass vases, dating from around 1900. Gallé (1846 – 1904) was a French artist at the forefront of the emerging Art... Read more »
Wyllie Cottage is the oldest European house still standing in the Gisborne area and also a popular tourist attraction. It was restored and refurbished in 2016. You can find out more about this project on our blog. The cottage was built in the early days of the township of Gisborne for Keita (Kate) and James... Read more »