Motueka Museum - Looking forward over our past

About us

140 High Street, Motueka
Ph: 03 528 7660
Email: savepast@snap.net.nz
Curator: Pauline Westall

Opening Hours:
Summer (Dec to March) - Monday to Friday 10-4
Winter (April to Nov) - Tuesday to Friday 10-3
Free admission, but a donation is appreciated
Website: www.motuekadistrictmuseum.org.nz

2012 AGM

Our annual general meeting is on Monday 10th at 2pm in the TDC meeting room, Hickmott Place. All members are welcome.

Situated in the centre of town, the museum is housed in the old Motueka High School building (opened in 1913).

The museum shows artefacts from Motueka's past. As well as static displays the museum has changing exhibitions, usually two a year: our main one being over the summer period and runs through to the middle of the year. Over the last two years we have also been host to the local Senior Net Digital Photographic Club's photo competition, an ongoing event.

Research Room:
There is also a Research Room (run, and material owned, by the Motueka Historical Association) which visitors are welcome to use daily to learn more of the history of the area or that of their ancestors. Members of the Association are available on Tuesday to assist with research. Small fees are charged to cover costs for photocopying, photos and correspondence. For more information on use of the Research Room, phone Coralie Smith (528 8241), Wendy McGregor (528 9908), Eileen Stewart (528 4473) or Jennie Askew (528 7309).

Other features of the museum:

The ship's berth, made to scale, shows the hardships suffered by our early immigrants.
Look at contemporary household gadgets of the late 1800s/early 1900s.
Coppins' shop - saddler and tent maker. Still a family business today.
Antique surgical instruments, many from local practitioners.
Taonga, including an early waka.

As part of our ongoing redevelopment we now have a new geology entrance, with future projects in the pipeline being the Taonga room, waterways/shipping, the good old Kiwi batch and the tobacco and hop industries and their importance to the town.

We have our latest newsletter, for Autumn 2013, which can be downloaded here. (Note: it's a 2.1-megabyte PDF file, unsuitable for a dial-up internet connection)

Current Exhibitions

Behind the bricks and mortar - 100 years of memories

Opening on Monday December 17th, this is a twin celebration: 25 years for the museum and 100 years for the building it occupies. The exhibition will run until June 28th 2013, and as an experiment will be open during the weekends over the summer months, as well as the customary week days.
For more details, click here »

Past Exhibitions

Forged from Fire: the Motueka Volunteer Fire Brigade turns 100

Our Volunteer Fire Brigade celebrate 100 years of community service since 1912, and we had an exhibition to mark the event. There were many stories, with photographs, told in this exhibition, including a particularly well-know one of when the brigade took off to put out a factory fire only to find out that whilst attending, the fire station was burning down.
For more details, click here »

Motueka Aerodrome: Ready For Take Off

Our aerodrome has an interesting history and this exhibition tells it from inception through to today's activities. From famous visitors, such as Kingsford Smith, tragedy, aerial displays, RNZAF exercises, to sky diving, microlight flights and stunt flying. The exhibition runs through until Friday 22 June 2012.
For more details, click here »

Converted - When is a church not a church?

Three buildings in Motueka district still look like churches. But they are not. They have been converted. Their stories - like all the stories of our area - relate to local need, emerging local progress and, above all else, local population changes.
For more details, click here »

Wawata Tawhiti - Distant Dreams - The Early Settlement of Motueka

This exhibition, which ran from December 2010 until June 2011, was about the settling of Motueka, from the Maori to Europeans; the hardships and triumphs experienced by Maori and pioneers alike; how they adapted to and tamed their new land and country; and what it was like for them.
For details and some photos, click here »

PAST BY - Fashion we're grateful to have missed: A light hearted look at the lengths people went to in the name of fashion over a few centuries. The display shows female fashion trends from the 1600s through to Edwardian times, plus a male fashion statement in the form of waistcoats. It was open in the later half of 2010.
For details and some photos, click here »

PIKI KI RUNGA: Our Summer/Autumn 2010 exhibition was "PIKI KI RUNGA - The climb to the top of Marble Mountain", which told the story of the Takaka Hill/Marble Mountain. It was open from 7 December 2009 - 11 June 2010.
For details and some photos, click here »

Butterflies Returning: From 29 March to 9 April we exhibited "Butterflies Returning", which has the species, distributions, pictures of typical environments with superimposed butterfly pictures and models of the red, the yellow and a caterpillar.
For details and photo, click here »

Board officers and members

Board Chairman: Jennifer Stillwell
Deputy Chairman: Patsy O'Shea
Secretary/Treasurer: Jen Calder
Museum Curator: Pauline Westall
Volunteer Roster: Jennifer Stilwell
Honorary Auditor: John Murphy
Patrons: Peter Assaf, John Hurley
Board members:
Malcolm Garrett
Ian Belcher
Pat O'Shea
Lois Walker
John Westall
Margaret Woodley
MCB Rep. David Ogilvie
TDC Rep. Eileen Wilkins
Historical Assn. Rep. Tim Rich
Iwi Rep. Joy Shorrock