A Week in Morrinsville — 1993
The heart of rural communities as well as the atmosphere, lifestyles and culture of early 1990s New Zealand are celebrated in a nostalgic exhibition at Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato.
It’s called 25 Years Beyond Thames Street: A Week in Morrinsville, 1993 and it opens tomorrow and runs through until March 10.
The free exhibition features 50 photographs taken in 1993 in Morrinsville, with the title referring to the Waikato town’s main street. The photography team of Phil Crawford and Fraser Munro set out to record the day-today life of a rural community, with the town centre as the focal point.
The photos were first exhibited in Morrinsville in 1993 then toured to galleries in Auckland, Manawatu¯ , Taupo¯ , Hastings, and Gisborne, and also published in a book titled
by Crawford and Munro. Waikato Museum exhibited the photographs in 1994-95 and was gifted the framed prints in 2001.
‘‘Life in a rural town is far more down to earth than some city dwellers experience,’’ wrote Crawford for the original exhibition. People meet socially as well as in shops and businesses. Many have lived in the town all their lives, possibly in the same house.’’
A quarter of a century later, Crawford said it was a good time to reflect on the years since the photos were taken.
— Stuff