MTG exhibitions make awards finals again

Published: 11 May 2018

Tūturu: 2018 NZ Museum Awards finalist.

MTG Hawke’s Bay is a finalist in the ServiceIQ New Zealand Museum Awards for the fifth year in a row.

The exhibitions Tūturu and He Manu Tioriori 100 Years of Ngāti Kahungunu Music have both been selected as finalists in the awards, to be announced next Sunday, 20 May.

Tūturu is a finalist for Exhibition Excellence – Art, while He Manu Tioriori is a finalist for Exhibition Excellence –   Taonga Māori. A third exhibition, Yuki Kihara: Te Taenga Mai o Salome,is not a finalist but has been given a special mention by the judges for Exhibition Excellence – Art.

This is not the first time Tūturu has attracted national attention. A collaborative project between MTG and Iwi Toi Kahungunu, it received national acclaim at the prestigious 2017 Resene Total Colour Awards, winning the  installation category and the overall supreme award

“It’s really exciting and pleasing to see the exhibitions the team are producing continue to be at the top standard for museums,” says Laura Vodanovich, MTG Director.

Those who haven’t seen either the Yuki Kihara and He Manu Tioriori exhibitions still have a few weeks to do so, with the former closing on 5 June, and the latter on 22 July.

The awards are being held at the Christchurch Art Gallery this year.

Last year, Somebody’s Darling: Stories from the Napier Cemetery 1855-1917, was a finalist in Museum Visitor Experience Award category.

In 2016, Tēnei Tonu, Talanoa: Colloquies of the unrecognised worker, and Pin Wall were finalists in the Best Taonga Exhibition for a Regional Museum, Best Art Exhibition for a Regional Museum, and – Best Museum Projectcategories respectively.

In 2015 MTG won the best exhibition under $20,000 category for Dr Felkin and the Forerunners, which examined a unique part of Hawke’s Bay’s social history. That same year MTG was also a finalist in two other awards – best exhibition over $20,000, and most innovative use of Te Reo Maori, for Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan – Travel in Style.

In 2014 MTG won Best Museum Project, for the facility’s redevelopment, and was a finalist in the most innovative use of Te Reo Maori category, for the Taonga Māori exhibition Ūkaipō - ō tātou whakapapa.

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