Motueka’s district museum, Pupuri Taonga, has a newly-appointed exhibitions manager and he has some exciting plans for upcoming exhibitions.
Kenny Willis joins the museum after 18 years of working in the cultural heritage sector around the country and overseas.
A self-proclaimed ‘exhibition magician’, he has some exciting plans for the museum’s programme of exhibitions.
“I moved to Motueka from Auckland around a year ago for a lifestyle change and have never looked back,” Kenny says.
“I’m a visual storyteller and I am looking forward to telling stories of Motueka.”
The museum is currently closed to allow for upgrades to the exhibition hall and Canton Room. Climate control, security upgrades, and relining the walls to make sure condensation isn’t coming in are all on the list.
“The upgrades will really help with bringing bigger and better cultural experiences to Motueka,” Kenny says.
“Once it’s completed we will have a completely new space, which I am really excited about as then the museum will be in a position to bring in loan items and exhibitions from all over the country as we will be able to properly care for them,” Kenny says.
Doors will open in September and the first exhibition is ‘Painted Histories: Historical Portraits and Landscapes of Motueka’.
These oil paintings and watercolours show a glimpse of life spanning a century from 1880 - 1980.
“These works literally paint a picture of what life was like in the region,” Kenny says.
“These can differ from photographic records due to the artist’s impression, which makes them a unique point of view. It shows revered personalities and local landscapes that artists thought to be significant.”
The collection includes a classical oil portrait of early settler Charles Parker, who was active in the community and rose to become a Member of Parliament who pushed for social reforms such as liberalising land purchase and use of the secret ballot, and opposed all forms of class privilege.
“Researching Charles Parker was fascinating, so was learning about another early settler, Thomasin Jacka, whose portrait will also be brought out of storage for display along with watercolour landscapes by Margaret Murray from around the district in the 1960s.”
Local art helps cultivate a sense of cultural identity and provides an intersection between past, present and future.
“Local art gives a community a place to stand. It reflects back to us how we see the world around us in our community and what we deem important enough to capture,” says Kenny.
“We have lots of treasures here and I can’t wait to share them with everyone when the doors open in September.”
