Temporary exhibitions

Catching Shadows: a century of photography on Banks Peninsula

From April to December 2023.

This exhibition traced the history of photographers working on Banks Peninsula, with an emphasis on Akaroa.

The exhibition began with the fabled Hone Tīkao daguerreotype portrait from the early 1840s and the mystery of where it was taken. It proceeded to the first documented photographer in Akaroa, Christopher Swinbourne in 1859 and traverses a century of visiting photographers’ comings and goings.

Along the way, the work of resident photographers is considered. The first of these was Henry Watkins followed closely by his brother Will. Later, Henry Billens and Arthur Gungall set up studios but their businesses struggled. Then came the T. E. Taylor studio and the great Jessie Buckland in the early twentieth century, and finally, the talented Donald J. McKay from Le Bons Bay in the 1950s.

With over 80 photographs on display, this exhibition was a feast of historic photography: past people, past landscapes and streetscapes in beautiful sepia tones.

Stitch Work

From December 2022 to March 2023.

Akaroa Museum’s summer exhibition Stitch Work showcased examples of women’s handcraft – embroidery, lace, patchwork, knitting, crochet, weaving and beadwork – all drawn from the Museum’s collection.

Stitch Work celebrated this work, the best of which has been treasured for generations by women who keep them to remember their mothers’, grandmothers’ and great-grandmothers’ precision and creativity with stitches.

Included in the exhibition were two spectacular patchwork quilts from the Museum’s own collection, last displayed more than a decade ago. One, made in England from cotton, dates from c.1797. The other is French and made of silks and silk brocade. It dates from c.1850.

The view from Paris: Charles Meryon’s Pacific etchings

From May 2022 to October 2022.

This exhibition showcased seven etchings by the renowned nineteenth-century French artist, Charles Meryon (1821-1868).

As a young naval cadet officer, Charles Meryon was stationed at Akaroa with the French corvette Rhin from 1843 to 1846.  During that time he made a wide variety of drawings: landscapes, portraits and natural history studies. More sketches were made when the Rhin visited the French Catholic mission stations that were dotted around the Pacific.

In the 1860s, Meryon used drawings from Akaroa and other places in the Pacific to create a series of prints for an album, ‘Voyage à la Nouvelle Zélande’ - A Voyage to New Zealand. Prints from this series are now in art collections around the world.

This exhibition was possible because of a gift of five Meryon etchings to Akaroa Museum in 2021. The donors were Andrew Baker and Katarina Vesterberg, Australians who have been frequent visitors to Canterbury and Banks Peninsula. The donation was, in Baker’s words, ‘dedicated to those who perished in the 2011 earthquake - and acknowledging the endurance of its survivors.’ 

Ngā Taonga me ōna Kōrero - A decade of collecting

From November 2021 to April 2022.

Akaroa Museum’s summer 2021/2022 exhibition reflected on the museum’s collecting over the last 10 years.

The title referred to both the things that are collected, the taonga, and the stories, information and discussion that are collected with the taonga – the kōrero. 

With the addition of each new taonga and its kōrero to the museum collection, the possibilities of the collection as a resource for knowing about the past and describing it increases.

The upshot was an exhibition comprising an eclectic mix of over fifty taonga, along with 80 digitised photographs on display. Restored 19th-century paintings, medals and certificates, the Akaroa Junior School dental chair, a World War Two sea mine, and much more were also on display.

Beneath: Three Archaeological Sites In Akaroa

From August 2021 to November 2021.

Majolica spill vase depicting a seated elephant holding a cornucopia or, perhaps, a tusk. Found in the midden at 9 rue Balguerie.

Picking through century-old rubbish does not sound glamorous, but this is often what archaeologists excavate. This exhibition explored what rubbish can tell us about how our ancestors lived.

On display were some of the finds from the Akaroa properties, 20 Bruce Terrace, 15 William Street, and 9 rue Balguerie.

Comte de Paris 180

From April to June 2021.

Monsieur Eteveneaux with a model Blockhouse, made by him for the New Zealand Exhibition in Christchurch, 1906-7. Photograph by J. Buckland, 1906.

Akaroa Museum remembers the French and German settlers who arrived in Akaroa on the Nanto-Bordelaise chartered ship, Comte de Paris, in 1840.

The exhibition included photographs and stories of some of the 58 Comte de Paris settlers, pictures of the houses they lived in and details of their land holdings.

Descendants of the de Malmanche, Lelievre, Libeau and Breitmeyer families contributed their thoughts on what it means to be part of those families.

The Cocksfoot Harvest

18 December 2020 to 21 March 2021.

The Cocksfoot Harvest was a temporary exhibition that opened on 18 December 2020 and ran until 21 March 2021.

For decades, the harvesting of cocksfoot grass seed drew hundreds of labourers to Banks Peninsula.

Ripe grass stalks were cut, threshed, riddled and bagged by hand – hard manual work, carried out under the hot summer sun.

Akaroa Cocksfoot grass seed became known worldwide for its quality and was an important source of income for Banks Peninsula farmers. At its peak, between about 1880 and 1910, growing cocksfoot grass seed was an industry that rivalled the “big three” – wheat, meat and wool.

Akaroa Museum’s summer exhibition of photographs illustrates the process of the harvest and the men who worked to bring it in. The exhibition complements the permanent cocksfoot exhibit in the Land & Sea gallery, where a cocksfoot threshing machine, riddles, flails and reaping hooks are displayed.

Banks Peninsula Landscapes

May to December 2020.

A selection of watercolour and oil paintings, and one pencil drawing, from the Akaroa Museum collection. 

Some works were on display for the first time, including Margaret Stoddart's Cottages, Little River (c.1923) donated to the Museum by Jeanette Nolan in 2016.

Cottages, Little River, by M.O. Stoddart. Watercolour on paper, 1923 or 1924. Gift of Jeanette Nolan, 2016. Akaroa Museum collection. 

J. H. Menzies: Design & Decoration

December 2019 to March 2020.

This exhibition discussed the architectural and furniture design of J. H. Menzies.

It featured six pieces of his furniture, including the magnificent Stanford Family Pātaka Cabinet, a co-acquisition by Akaroa Museum and the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. 

Read more about the Stanford Family Pātaka Cabinet.(external link)

It also included two photographs by the photographer Neil Pardington.

June's Wardrobe: an autobiography in outfits

May to November 2019.

Caftan and brown checked suit

Horrockses fashion dress and striped ball gown

Three formal dresses

Akaroa Museum showcased nine outfits from its June Hay costume collection with June’s Wardrobe: an autobiography in outfits.

June Hay, nee Goodwin, from Pigeon Bay, is renowned locally for her interest in fashion, as a dressmaker, and for keeping her entire wardrobe, a collection that spans several decades.

The selection of outfits reflected the transition June made from a young single woman in the 1940s to a wife and mother in the 1950s and 1960s.

A Photographer's Eye: Donald McKay's 1950s

December 2018.

Living in Le Bons Bay, Donald J. McKay was "Banks Peninsula's resident photographer" from 1949 to mid 1961.

This exhibition of 24 of his photographs showed local people and places through his eyes, with his characteristic humour and his creativity.

No Voice No Choice

October 2017.

This exhibition was created to tie in with Beca Heritage Week 2018 and Suffrage 125 Whakatū Wāhine.

The exhibition was about the lives of twelve Banks Peninsula women from the 19th and 20th centuries, during the period when the campaign for suffrage was underway, and in the decades immediately afterwards.  

Banks Peninsula Wide

December 2017.

Panoramic photographs were taken during the 1920s by photographer Robert Percy Moore. 

Moore’s wide-format photographs present a 200-degree horizontal arc.

Mounted inside dark oak frames, R. P. Moore photographs are instantly recognisable.

T. E. Taylor Studio Photographs

May 2017.

An exhibition of more than 50 of T. E. Taylor’s photographs, taken during the period 1896-1910, digitised and printed from their original glass plate negatives.

The Richard Stewart Original Pharmacy collection

May 2017.

The old chemist shop building at the corner of rues Lavaud and Croix has been the source of a wonderful collection of advertising signs, packaged remedies, balance scales and mortar and pestles.

Also in the collection were records from the pharmacy including prescription books and a poisons register.

The exhibition focused on Henri Citron, the chemist who moved into the shop on the corner of Lavaud and Cross streets in 1883, the two generations of Dodds who ran the business from 1888 to 1926 and the two generations of Stewart who followed them.

Painted and Carved: the art of J. H. Menzies

April 2016.

Painted and Carved presented a survey of the unique artistic output of John Henry Menzies (1839-1919), otherwise employed as a Banks Peninsula farmer.

Menzies' artistic legacy includes around 80 pieces of carved furniture, one decorated house (of three) named Rehutai, and one decorated church, St. Lukes Anglican Church at Little Akaloa.

In 1910 he published Maori Patterns Painted and Carved. Menzies was fascinated by the patterns in Māori art which he studied and reproduced in his art works, often combining these with botanical reliefs, Celtic motifs, proverbs and sayings.

Fifty

December 2014

Chappell family tricycle. AK:2010.54.1

5th December 2014 marked a milestone in the history of Akaroa Museum. It was the Museum’s fiftieth anniversary, celebrated with a community birthday event on Sunday 7 December, and a new exhibition, ‘Fifty’.

This exhibition combined the story of the founding of Akaroa Museum with a playful display of 50 objects chosen from the collection, one object to represent each year since opening.

Tales of Banks Peninsula 

November 2014

Akaroa Harbour from Barrys Bay W. M. N. Watkins, oil on canvas, 1874. AK:2011.11.1

This was an exhibition of interconnected objects and overlapping stories that explored the history of nineteenth century Banks Peninsula.

Tales of Banks Peninsula was about the reactions of settlers to their new home and environment, and of Māori to the new settlers.

Fronting Up 

August 2014

Trooper Maurice Moore, Clifford Studio, 1914. AK:2012.32.46

This exhibition looked at some of the main events of the First World War concentrating on the experiences of the Banks Peninsula servicemen and servicewomen, often using their own words to describe them.

Based on first-hand accounts, Fronting Up displayed photographs, letters and souvenirs collected by the soldiers and nurses, some of whom (lest we forget) were never to return.

Horomaka

12 July 2013 

He Āhua Tipuna Life mask of Takatahara Moulded by Pierre-Alexandre Dumoutier (1797-1871), painted plaster, 1840. AK:1991.646.1

 This “Stage 1” reopening exhibition followed 55 weeks of being closed to the public due to concerns around the seismic strength of the Museum buildings. 

Horomaka was developed around the life cast of Takatahara (Tangatahara) made in 1840 and several ancestor portraits connected to Ōnuku. 

The content was themed around cultural and artistic meetings and negotiations during the 19th century. 

The Dog Show

May 2012

A different way of looking at the Museum's historic photograph collection. Stray dogs, street dogs, working dogs, pet dogs, lap dogs: once you start looking, you see that dogs are everywhere (as the Pulp song goes).

Akaroa on Holiday - photograph competition

March 2012

'Freedom Jump', by Nicole Paul

In collaboration with Akaroa District Promotions, the Museum showed the best entries in a photograph competition to capture the spirit of being in Akaroa on holiday.

 Akaroa on Holiday

December 2011

Akaroa was recognised early as a favoured resort for holidays, becoming even more popular as road transport improved.

Campers, bach-owners, convalescents, day-trippers and honeymooners have enjoyed the unique charms of the town for decades.

A recent development has been the use of Akaroa Harbour as a port for cruise ships, which deposit hundreds of visitors at a time in the small town.

Electric Servants

September 2011 

Heater AK1991.772.1

Timed to celebrate the centenary of the introduction of municipal electricity generation in Akaroa, Electric Servants looked at the impact the introduction of electricity had in the domestic realm.

Early electrical appliances including heaters, jugs and irons from the Museum's collection featured, alongside a history of the Akaroa Borough Council's venture into generating electricity for its ratepayers.

Quirky Collectors IV

July 2011

Cast-iron money box, private collection

A selection of diverse objects from local collectors.

This year's selection included cast iron money boxes, Russian nesting dolls, prints of mounted troopers, promotional pens and erasers.

The Gaiety - an ornament to the town

December 2010

The Gaiety, photograph by Victoria Andrews

The hall known today as The Gaiety was built in 1879 as an Oddfellows Lodge, later being used as a picture theatre.

Having undergone a recent renovation, it is still a much-loved venue for community events and celebrations.

The exhibition delves into the history of the Akaroa Oddfellows, the building of the hall, showing movies, and the wide range of other events held there.

Charting the Long Harbour

October 2010 

Section of Acheron chart, 1850

The first rudimentary charts of Akaroa Harbour (the long harbour) were produced by whalers in the early 1830s.

Ten and twenty years later the French and English drew more accurate and sophisticated charts, recording water depths and land features, and naming places.

Digital copies of some of these early charts of the harbour are on show in this exhibition.

Quirky Collections III

July 2010

The Beatles, Revolution, private collection

A selection of diverse collections from local collectors.

This year's selection included Weet-bix cards, cats' whiskers, miniature carousels, model aircraft, 45 rpm records, salt and pepper shakers and kitchen colanders.

New Stuff 

May 2010

Akaroa tweed blanket, AK2009.100.1

The Museum relies on donations of objects to build its collection and this exhibition showed the range of objects recently donated:

• an 1888 wedding dress
• a patchwork blanket made from Akaroa tweed
• items from a 1950s Takamatua bach
• rowing medals and trophies won by George Whelch from c. 1900
• a Charles Meryon etching from the 1840s.

Ngā Roimata o Takapūneke 

February 2010

Sunset, J. L. Buckland, 1920s. AK:2003.18.2.24

This exhibition commemorated the formal protection by Christchurch City Council in 2009 of Takapūneke as a Historic Reserve.

Using images, text and oral history interviews, the exhibition placed the history of Takapūneke within the wider cultural landscape of Akaroa Harbour with reference to a number of registered wāhi tapu including Tuhiraki (Bossu), Ōnawe, Ōteauheke (Brasenose) and Takapūneke.

Mystery and Delight at Every Turn

November 2009

Beach Road, c.1969, Peter Beaven photograph, AK:Photo:1207

Marking 40 years of the Akaroa Civic Trust and its work to preserve the beauty and charm of Akaroa, the central element in this exhibition was a series of black and white photographs taken by Peter Beaven in the late 1960s, recording the details that he believed invested Akaroa with such character and charm.

Quirky Collections II

July 2009 

The community's collections provided the content for Quirky Collections II.

A Wider View - Jessie Buckland Panoramas 

March 2009

'Home in the Evening' by J. L. Buckland AK:2003.18.2.8

Digitally enlarged copies of original photographs taken by Jessie Buckland in the mid-1920s, using her new wide format panorama camera.

Jessie was Akaroa's well-known professional photographer with an artist's eye for composition.

These beautiful black and white images of the Akaroa harbour and hills are some of her best work.

Disasters, Mysteries and Sensations 

December 2008

Metropol Hotel fire, 1962

A chronicle of some of Akaroa's most dramatic events over the past 150 years - plummeting planes, fatal fires, raging epidemics, out-of-control horses, tragic shipwrecks and mysterious disappearances.

Quirky Collections 

July 2008

Model steam locomotive, private collection

The community's collections provided the content for Quirky Collections.

Transformers, egg cups, bricks, bullets, shearing hand-pieces and a working model steam locomotive featured.

On the Ball - 100 years of Banks Peninsula Rugby 

April 2008

Akaroa Rugby Team, c.1896, AK:2010.21.3

The Peninsula's finest young men at play - trophies, banners, photographs and jerseys were displayed in this exhibition held to mark the centennial of the Banks Peninsula Rugby club.

Carved Interiors

March 2007

Design from J.H. Menzies' pattern book

Contemporary photographs by Neil Pardington of two important local interiors, one a private home and the other a church, both created by Little Akaloa farmer and amateur carver, J.H. Menzies.

"Rehutai" was the Menzies' family home in Menzies Bay, and St Luke's is the Anglican Church at Little Akaloa.

Included in the exhibition was J.H. Menzies' folio of carving patterns, compiled in the early years of the 20th century.

Akaroa, Holiday Haven

May 2007

Lovely Akaroa, tourist guide, 1925

An exhibition of images used to promote Akaroa as a tourist destination, and souvenirs made for the visitor market.

Most famous among the souvenir ware was Pompey china, produced during the years preceding WW1 and bearing the image of Akaroa's pet penguin, known as Pompey.

Pacific Pathways

June 2007

Antonio Rodrigues, AK:Photo:1529

To mark heritage week, with its theme of Pacific Pathways, the Museum developed an exhibition featuring the mix of peoples who made up Akaroa's population in the period 1840-1900.

Contrary to the popular and much-promoted belief that they were all French, there were notable figures from this early period with very mixed origins.

Joining the first occupants of the Akaroa Harbour area, the local Maori population, were American, English, Portuguese, Italian, German and Chinese, as well as the French settlers who arrived in 1840 on the immigrant ship the Comte de Paris.

150 years of Schooling in Akaroa

October 2007

Akaroa High School crest

Timed to coincide with the 150th School Reunion Celebrations this exhibition surveyed the history of the school.

Included in the exhibition was a selection of photographs of pupils and samples of school rolls.

Milk It - The Peninsula's Dairy Industry

November 2007

Butter mould, AK:1964.16.1

Banks Peninsula was famous in the mid-late 19th century for its high quality dairy produce.

Many of the surrounding bays had their own dairy factories, producing butter and cheese for export. 

Milk It included equipment used in the manufacturing process, both on home farms and in the factories, photographs and records.

Maps and Charts

March 2005

Chart of Akaroa Harbour, Acheron survey, 1850

A selection of early maps and charts of Akaroa Harbour from the first 10 years of European settlement, illustrating the fluid nature of early place-names, which changed from Maori to French to English.

Supplementary material included a surveyor's chain and an early subdivision plan for Birdlings Flat, to be known as the Township of Seaforth.

60 Years Ago

August 2005

Fleur de lis

An exhibition toured by the French Embassy celebrating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and New Zealand, which formally began in 1945.

Distinguished French and New Zealand scholars contributed to an accompanying catalogue.

Casting the Net: A history of Akaroa's Fishing Industry

September 2005

Fishing boats at Akaroa Wharf c.1969, Peter Beaven photograph, AK:Photo:2103

Until relatively recently, Akaroa was home to a thriving fishing industry, with up to 40 fishing boats working out of the Harbour.

This exhibition told of the fishing traditions of many local families, the perils of working life at sea, and the changes in the industry with the introduction of the fishing quota system and the growing importance of tourism to the town.

Minding our own Business

March 2006

Akaroa County Council common seal

Timed to coincide with the abolition of the Banks Peninsula District Council, in March 2006, and the area's inclusion as part of Christchurch City Council, this exhibition surveyed the various local authorities which had governed Banks Peninsula since 1876.

Laying the Foundations

September 2006

Coronation Library c.1875, AK:Photo:114

Akaroa's late 19th and early 20th century builders left a legacy of heritage buildings in Akaroa which make the town a showcase for New Zealand colonial architecture.

J J Donovan, J J Cullen and J J Walker were responsible for some of Akaroa's well-known public buildings as well as cottages and larger homes, many of which survive today.

Other builders, including the Newton and Haylock families, and William Penlington, also had their handiwork featured.

Centennial of the Akaroa Bowling Club

December 2006

Private collection

To mark the centennial celebrations held by the Akaroa Bowling Club, the Museum displayed a selection of objects associated with the long history of the club.

These included a rule book, a set of wooden bowls, various medals and badges, and photographs.

On the Job

2003

Joe Sergison with his champion stallion 'Kruger', AK:Photo:577

Drawn from the Museum's own collection of photographs, this exhibition illustrated a variety of local personalities from the past, in their places of work, or with the tools of their trade.

They included a farmer, a fisherman, a schoolteacher, a lace-maker, a carter and a gardener.

Obscure and Obsolete Objects

September 2003

Pot scrub, AK:1988.2124.1

A selection of mysterious objects was brought out from the storeroom for this interactive exhibition.

Visitors were invited to guess at the function of the objects, learning at the end of the exhibition whether they had guessed correctly.

Among the mystery objects were a curd-cutter, a peck measure, a grass seed flail, and a fly trap.

Heritage Partnerships

November 2003

Akaroa Civic Trust walking guide

This exhibition highlighted the work of the Akaroa Civic Trust in preserving the town's heritage and general charm.

Much of this work is in partnership with other organisations, such as the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, the local authority and the Akaroa Museum.

The Civic Trust has also produced an attractive walking guide to the historic area of Akaroa.

Harley Davidsons

February 2004

Advert from 1927 Akaroa Mail

In February 2004, Akaroa hosted a rally of hundreds of Harley Davidson enthusiasts.

To complement the event, the Museum displayed a 1928 Harley motorcycle with sidecar, lent by a local resident, which had once belonged to the local butcher and was used for deliveries.

Photographs and stories about other Akaroa owners of these iconic machines complemented the motorcycle.

Recent Acquisitions

March 2004

Invitation to 1906 exhibition, AK:2003.38.4

To illustrate the wide range of special objects being constantly donated to the Museum collection, this exhibition included:

• a small child's red cape
• a flensing tool associated with the whaling industry
• a plate from the Kowhai Tearooms in Akaroa
• an invitation to Mr Howard Jacobson, editor of the Akaroa Mail newspaper, to the opening of the 1906 International Exhibition in Christchurch.

Tane's Domain

September 2004

Akaroa Domain, Jessie Buckland photograph AK:Photo:10

An exhibition tracing the evolution of the delightful reserve enveloping the cemeteries at the southern end of Akaroa.

Known as the Akaroa Domain at the time of its creation in 1876, it was renamed the Garden of Tane in the 1980s.

It was at one time home to a charming summerhouse, a ferny grotto and the Domain Tennis Club courts.

Will Watkins, Painter

November 2004

Akaroa Harbour, Will Watkins, AK:1967.80.1

Local artist, Will Watkins, was an accomplished and prolific landscape painter during the latter part of the 19th century.

For this exhibition the Museum's small collection of Watkin's work was supplemented by works borrowed from his descendants, and from the Christchurch Art Gallery.

A spectacular panoramic painting of Akaroa Harbour is part of the Akaroa Museum's permanent collection.

Past Times

September 2004

Table quoits game, AK:2009.18.2

Drawing on the Museum's own collection and supplemented with items borrowed from the community, this exhibition of toys and games of the past brought together:

• matchbox toys and marbles
• Meccano sets and tea-sets
• board-games and building blocks
• puppets and cut-out dolls.

Doing Our Bit

April 2002

Ticket to returned soldiers ball, AK:1991.8

Focusing on the effects on Banks Peninsula people of the two major world conflicts of the 20th century, WWI and WWII, this exhibition looked not only at the experiences of those who went overseas to fight, but also at what 'doing our bit' meant for those at home.

The exhibition showed how peace was celebrated at the end of both wars, and the importance of memorials in honouring those who died.

The Enemies of Art

June 2002

Silverfish

An exhibition which dramatically illustrated the variety of problems which can affect works of art on paper, and provided tips on preventing them.

Lynn Campbell, paper conservator at the Christchurch Art Gallery, put these examples together as teaching aids for her work and lent them to the Akaroa Museum for exhibition.

Pubs of the Peninsula

September 2002

Bruce Hotel, AK:Photo:307

The important social role played by hotels was evident in this exhibition about the pubs of the Peninsula.

The early Akaroa hotels, such as William Green's Victoria Inn, and Bruce's Hotel, were the haunts of whalers and fishermen, while many of the outlying bays also had their local pubs.