Auckland museum to put its Pacific collection on display

Transcript

One of the world's largest collections of historic Pacific treasures will be displayed in a new project launched by New Zealand's Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Treasures such as musical instruments, tools, ornaments and carvings from 13 different island nations will be brought out of storage, catalogued, conserved and photographed over the next three years.

Indira Stewart has more.

Over 5,000 collection items are expected to be processed and also made accessible online for communities and researchers worldwide.

The Pacific Collection Access Project has launched with it's first focus on the Cook Islands.

Community leaders Mary Ama and her husband William Hakaoro have been invited to help identify some of the items in the project.

MARY AMO: Very interesting, I've got so many questions you know, because most of them are gifted. You know, they've been gifted here. Most of them are actually old and this is why they couldn't even identify what the name is, the correct name for them. Bring it on!

William Hakaoro shares the same excitement.

WILLIAM HAKAORO: It will be interesting for the Cook Islanders to know that there are stuff here which has not been identified. It's about time that those items should be identified here. It's exciting.

The Museum's Pacific Curator, Fuli Pereira says there are items in the collection which are over 100 years old.

She describes one of the treasures - a large wooden stool, said to be a seat belonging to a Cook Islands Chief. 

WILLIAM HAKAORO: It's about four metres long. It's all made of one piece of wood, which is absolutely amazing, with very intricate patterning down the edges of it. And it's from Aitutaki and it's been here since about the 1920's and it was brought here by Sir Peter Buck.

Ota Tuaeu says the project will provide a space for the Pacific communities to learn from each other.

OTA TUAEU: I'm just grateful that the Museum has seen fit to run this project. At least we have somewhere where we can come and store all the stuff that we've learnt and all the stuff that we've created about our cultures.

Fuli Pereira says involving the communities will help bring a better understanding and exchange of knowledge about the richness of the collections.

FULI PEREIRA: It's going to be huge because most Museum's have put their collections on line. But we're going to have a concerted effort to collaborate with our communities and actually have their voices be the primary voice telling the world about the collections here.

Fuli says because the bulk of the Museum's collections are in storage, the project will be a great opportunity to bring out everything the Museum has from the Pacific - the entirety of which has never before been seen.