Museum nets Covid protest items
Concrete barrier joins collection with focus on pandemic
Te Papa has collected tennis balls thrown at journalists during the anti-mandate protests at Parliament, as well as a concrete barrier with the word “freedom” written across it.
The items are part of a long-term collection programme tracing the country’s experience with Covid-19 from the first announcements made about the virus, to the vaccination rollout, to the protests, and beyond.
Te Papa senior history curator Claire Regnault said the protest in February and March had a major impact on Wellington and evoked strong reactions.
Hundreds occupied Parliament for 23 days, clogging the surrounding streets with cars, trucks, and tents.
Violent scenes erupted as police eventually moved in to clear the camp. Protesters didn’t go down without a fight — ripping bricks from the pavement and lighting fires.
During the protest, concrete barriers were put in place to prevent the group expanding any further into Wellington city and to maintain access for residents, businesses and emergency vehicles.
The barriers, usually used for river works, were on loan from Greater Wellington Regional Council.
Regnault said Te Papa has collected one barrier which has the word “freedom” written across the front of it in blue paint and “love” on the other side in red.
“It was good to have something of scale and the fact the protest got to that level where barriers were put in place at 3.30am one morning around Parliament,” she said.
“That word freedom is a great word because it does throw up that conversation about what is freedom? What is choice? And for whom?”
Regnault said a number of groups also had the word “freedom” in their name, such as the Freedom Convoy.
The barrier was one of just a handful put aside in the aftermath of the occupation.
A water blaster was used to clean up the rest of them.
Te Papa has also collected smaller items such as pamphlets, placards, and photographs from the protest.
They are all tucked away in the museum’s storage facilities.
Curators have also gathered tennis balls which were thrown at journalists when thousands marched on Parliament in November to challenge Covid-19 restrictions.
Regnault said she hoped some of the items collected from the protests would make it onto the museum’s floor within the next few years.
They would also be processed for online collections.
She said collecting items like these helped people remember events and salient moments.
“It helps us connect to the past and understand and unpick events, particularly when you’ve got the time to be able to look back.”
The fallout from the protest earlier this year was still emerging.
More than a third of the police staff involved have been referred to support services to help deal with the emotional toll of the experience.
Officers were knocked unconscious, tore tendons, and suffered dislocations in the melee of the protest, but the unseen mental hits have also been widespread.
Fifty businesses have received relief payments totalling $974,600 after the “devastating” disruption.
Police were also still investigating criminal activity on the final day of the occupation and continue to appeal for the public’s help to identify those involved.