Memory box
I wonder if heritage buildings, structures, sites and places are often not given the protection they deserve, and are required to receive under the Resource Management Act, because in order to support their significance under law you have to tell a story about them.
In a pragmatic country where the tale of a boy from a small rural community who achieves greatness as an All Black is about the only narrative we give wholehearted credence to, the telling of stories in heritage protection hearings and legal proceedings is typically treated as a weak, subjective response within an arena that only hears the ‘truth’ when it is presented as financial ‘facts’ and figures. Thus was the narrative power of the submitters trying to protect the heritage values of both Euphrasie House in Hamilton East and the former Church College campus at Temple View discounted in favour of the ‘rational’ commercial interests of the properties’ owners and their hired consultants.
This imbalance of power is made all the more galling when stories are embraced by commercial interests when it suits them, whether the brand story is being put to the service of milk, Middle Earth tourism, or real estate. The value of a story is known when it comes to selling things and yet the most powerful stories of family, place and time are thought by many to be ‘nice to have’ add-ons to the real business of competing in the global economy and acquiring a house with a butler’s pantry.
Without history and heritage there would be no brand stories, however, and nor would we have the society, for all its faults, that connects us all in Aotearoa. The need to share our stories is at the heart of the recently announced decision to make New Zealand history a core part of the school curriculum.
No doubt the folk who think that New Zealand history is a poor substitute for the ‘real’ history of Great Britain and Europe will already have had many spirited conversations about the havoc that is about to be wreaked on the education system and how ‘our’ children [whose would they be?] will suffer from learning the history of this country instead of whatever is thought to provide a competitive advantage in the modern world. And yet, the stories will not be silenced or withheld. It’s impossible to understand what is happening at Ihumatao at present without paying attention to the stories that have been told about the historic site and the complexity of that narrative helps to illuminate the reason why the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s voyage around New Zealand is not just being marked by an ornamental tall ship crewed by a bunch of chaps in knee breeches.
Closer to home and far less controversial, although just as multilayered, the story of Hillcrest, Hamilton’s university suburb, has recently been added to the DigitalNZ web site. Using historic photographs from a range of sources, the online exhibition brings to life the buildings and places that embody a history of confiscation, colonial settlement, farming and educational development. Without the story there is no Hillcrest, no Hamilton, no Waikato. Without the region’s historic buildings, sites and structures there are no hooks on which to hang our story.