Teu le Vā Introducing the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Pacific Advisory Group The coming together of a Pacific Advisory Group at the Auckland War Memorial Museum is yet another exciting step in its strategic journey which is set out in Future Museum, the organisation’s 20 year plan published at the end of 2012. The formation of the Pacific Advisory Group, the first of its kind in the Museum’s 162 year history, will assist the Museum in developing a stronger Pacific dimension. The aim is to better reflect Auckland’s rich, contemporary Pacific culture and improve the under-representation of visitation by Pacific people and increase their engagement with Museum programmes. The Pacific Advisory Group comprises community leaders from across the Pacific and a wide range of sectors, to help guide and inform Museum staff and management. Museum Director Roy Clare says “acting as a source of knowledge and information, this group of esteemed community leaders will assist us in creating strong links into Pacific networks and communities. We trust this will lead to high levels of meaningful engagement with communities via collections, exhibitions and programmes.” The Pacific Advisory Group meets every two months and will liaise directly with key members of staff, including the Museum Director. Alongside establishing the Pacific Advisory Group the Museum has drafted a document titled Teu le Vā, which outlines what is meant by ‘creating a strong Pacific dimension’. Museum staff have been involved in producing a short film articulating what Teu le Vā means to them. Linked here: youtu.be/6D6yW9VQl5E Working beyond the walls of the Museum via outreach activities is a key way of engaging with communities. On March 8 and 9 the Museum participated in the Pasifika Festival at Western Springs. On Sunday 23 March, back onsite at the Museum, programmes will celebrate Pasifika with a variety of fun and interactive programming which includes Creative Crafts, Storytime in Weird and Wonderful, special gallery tours and also a selection of musical performances from across the pacific. Visit aucklandmuseum for more information. Pacific Advisory Group: Linda Aumua (Fijian) • Director of Unitec’s Centre for Learning Teaching and Research Marilyn Kohlhase (Samoan) • Freelance curator & former board member of Creative New Zealand and Auckland City Council Partnership Committee Mele Nemaia (Niuean) • Teacher at Favona Primary School in Auckland & Chairperson of the Vagahau Niue Trust, focussed on preserving Niuean language Richard Pamatatau (Cook Island) • Programme Leader for Graduate Diploma in Pacific Journalism at AUT, and a journalist for 20 + years, most recently as the Pacific Issues Correspondent at Radio New Zealand Melanie Rand (Hawaiian/Fijian) • Cofounder of the Eco Store, and an artist and a poet who has exhibited as part of a number of high profile events Dr Damon Salesa (Samoan) • Professor at Auckland University’s Centre of Pacific Studies, and an author of a number of books on the History of the Pacific, and on the British and U.S. empires Tigilau Ness (Niuean) • New Zealand activist and reggae artist who performs as part of Unity Pacific; currently the Niue representative on Creative New Zealand Pacific Arts Committee, and involved in founding the Polynesian Panthers, a Polynesian rights group modeled after the Black Panthers.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 22:52:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015