This exhibition showcases recent acquisitions and rarely-seen objects from the Museum’s collections alongside short films by Errol Maffey. Many of these objects and films are being shown publicly for the first time and all give a unique insight into Otaki and its people.
The main exhibition space contains an eclectic mix of objects and artefacts selected from the museum storerooms. There is everything from gaudy glittered postcards, old coins and fine china through to 1960’s dresses, a moa bone and a scale model of the local stone crusher. Just as people tell stories, so do objects. We invite you to look carefully and hear each object speak about its past.
Raised in Island Bay, Errol Maffey moved to Otaki Beach in 2000 to live in the bach built by his grandfather. He was inspired to start recording present-day Otaki after watching a screening of historic films at the Civic Theatre in 2006. These films were the work of the New Zealand Moving Picture Company (Maoriland Films) which was established by Byron Brown and other leading Otaki citizens in the 1920s.
With an eye for the quirky, Errol’s DVD productions delightfully capture the culture of our town and record many of the special events, characters and community organisations that contribute to the rich and growing story of Otaki.
Hidden Gems celebrates the eccentric, the eclectic, the unique and the ordinary things that make our town so special.
Come in and see!
The main exhibition space contains an eclectic mix of objects and artefacts selected from the museum storerooms. There is everything from gaudy glittered postcards, old coins and fine china through to 1960’s dresses, a moa bone and a scale model of the local stone crusher. Just as people tell stories, so do objects. We invite you to look carefully and hear each object speak about its past.
Raised in Island Bay, Errol Maffey moved to Otaki Beach in 2000 to live in the bach built by his grandfather. He was inspired to start recording present-day Otaki after watching a screening of historic films at the Civic Theatre in 2006. These films were the work of the New Zealand Moving Picture Company (Maoriland Films) which was established by Byron Brown and other leading Otaki citizens in the 1920s.
With an eye for the quirky, Errol’s DVD productions delightfully capture the culture of our town and record many of the special events, characters and community organisations that contribute to the rich and growing story of Otaki.
Hidden Gems celebrates the eccentric, the eclectic, the unique and the ordinary things that make our town so special.
Come in and see!
This exhibition, on loan from Pataka Museum and Gallery, references a map of the old Porirua Road drawn in 1849 by Thomas Fitzgerald, which traces the route from Johnsonville to Paekakariki. It draws on the dairy entries of early travellers who ventured north of Wellington, and features drawings, prints and paintings. To complement North Road there will also be a smaller display of images documenting the development of the road from Paekakariki to Otaki.
With several thousand photographs in our collection, we're bound to have a few we can't identify. We have been displaying some of these photos in the museum foyer and have and a great response with many names now being put to previously unidentified faces. We are also printing a "mystery photo" each month as part of our regular column for the Otaki Mail.
