‘I believe this place can grow’
Jana says: “There are endless opportunities. Our museum has a very strong bond with the community and could be a heritage hub for Central Hawke’s Bay.
“Yes, we have issues with storage, and being in a category 2 listed heritage building has its challenges, but I believe this place can grow.”
The historic Bank of New Zealand building in Waipawa was gifted to the people of Central Hawke’s Bay by the district council in 1986, to house the museum. It opened to the public two years later.
The first items for the museum were collected by the CHB Salvation Army Access Scheme during 1984 and 1985.
An exhibition hall was added in 2000, allowing regular exhibitions. It also houses a river waka donated by a local family.
More recently, the museum removed the word “settlers” from its name — CHB Settlers Museum — to be renamed Central Hawke’s Bay Museum, with the committee saying the move was “to be more inclusive of mana whenua and the growing number of people of different nationalities making Central Hawke’s Bay home”.
Rose says while she was struck by the stories threaded through the museum’s artefacts, the tales were not always evident due to the lack of display area.
“Central Hawke’s Bay history has a huge narrative flow, and not just about the wealthy and successful, there’s granular and interesting detail. We need to tease these stories out and this will take time.
“There’s also a lack of mana whenua voice and that’s about mending and continuing to mend a complicated history.
“Museums have to continually reinvent themselves as well as caring for facets of the old. There are lots of things to discuss and talk about in museums and they can help reflect current issues, asking ‘how does that fit with our society now?’
“We also need to look at volunteers — get younger people in and involved, look at more digital tools. It takes a lot of funding and someone has to take this on.”
This month the Central Hawke’s Bay Museum launched a Givealittle campaign to try to keep the entry free, through donations and sponsorship. The money raised will replace the income the museum used to get from
charging an admission fee.
The public are invited to contribute to the museum’s Givealittle page and keep the community’s history free and accessible for all who want to learn about it.
You can watch OngaTV’s interview with Jana, Rose and Craig at OngaTV on YouTube.
The Central Hawke’s Bay Museum is in High St, Waipawa and is open seven days a week from 10am-4pm.
Take a stroll through the museum’s streets and browse the extensive collections.