Museum Of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa New Zealand National Maritime Musuem

Fundraising Campaign To Complete Sir Peter Blake Exhibition

Te Papa’s Chief Executive, Dr Seddon Bennington, and the Chief Executive of the New Zealand National Maritime Museum, Larry Robbins, expressed pleasure at the announcement today of significant Government and Auckland City Council financial backing for their plan to commemorate the life and work of Sir Peter Blake through a major new exhibition at the New Zealand National Maritime Museum.

It is anticipated that the exhibition and the new building which will house it will cost $10 million.

“The contributions from Government and the Auckland City Council represent a significant proportion of the total cost of the project and will be an incentive to the private sector to support a high profile exhibition about a great New Zealander who captured the imagination of the yachting world,” said Dr Seddon Beddington.

At the centre of the exhibition will be NZL32, the boat with which Sir Peter and Team New Zealand first won the America’s Cup. NZL32 was gifted to Te Papa by the Team New Zealand Trust in 2001. Along side the boat will be interactive displays dealing with major aspects of Sir Peter’s life and career.

Dr Bennington said that the exhibition will be a fitting tribute to a great New Zealander and will live up to the spirit in which the gift of NZL32 was made to Te Papa.

“This will not be a static memorial but will tell the stories of Sir Peter’s life in interesting and engaging ways. We are very pleased to be able to participate in bringing this tribute to Auckland and are confident of raising the funds required to complete the project,” said Dr Bennington.

The National Maritime Museum’s Chief Executive, Larry Robbins, said that the location for the memorial was an excellent one given Sir Peter’s contribution to New Zealand’s recent maritime history.

“We are delighted to be associated with a wonderful man who has had such a positive impact on this country,” Larry Robbins said.

This project marks a significant development outside of Wellington for Te Papa as the National Museum of New Zealand. Te Papa is active in a number of communities through its National Services programme and other activities including collection loans and touring exhibitions. This is the first time Te Papa will be involved in the development of as permanent exhibition in another city.

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