Media Release 1 July 2010

Museum’s Kai to Pie Wins Human Rights Kudos

Auckland Museum’s ambitious new exhibition, Kai to Pie: Auckland on Your Plate, which celebrates the people of Auckland and the food that they enjoy, has won recognition from the Human Rights Commission for its contribution to diversity in New Zealand.

The Human Rights Commission gifted the Museum with its On the Bright Side award, which highlights events that promote harmonious race relations in New Zealand society and make a positive contribution to cultural diversity. The Award recognises the Kai to Pie exhibition, a celebration of Auckland’s extraordinary wealth of people and cultures through an examination of food and its preparation.

Interim Director Sir Don McKinnon said, “Auckland Museum is fortunate to serve one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world. Kai to Pie celebrates this remarkable breadth through stories of food.”

The exhibition serves up Auckland in four courses: it explores traditional harvesting of food from land and sea; shows the great banquets of Auckland’s past; showcases objects from New Zealand’s culinary culture; and investigates the future of our food.

The Kai to Pie exhibition is accompanied by a wide range of activities and events including lectures, family events, cooking demonstrations and tasting sessions. Tonight LATE at the Museum explores innovations in food. Scientists will pit their wits against food lovers to find a solution as to how best to feed the world in a time when sourcing safe and nutritious food is an issue around the globe.

Every Saturday, the Museum showcases one of the many ethnic groups that call Auckland home. This Saturday sees a celebration of Matariki at the Museum with chef Charles Royal, who will demonstrate of the best of Maori cooking followed by food tastings.

Charles sustainably harvests Maori herbs and spices, many of which had historically been used for medicinal purposes, and combines them with his considerable skills as a contemporary modern chef.

Fellow Rotorua locals Andrew Baker and Te Okahurangi Waaka will provide the musical backdrop with a range of songs celebrating Matariki. The pair will sing a bracket of Maori waiata (bilingual with explanations where appropriate) at the museum at 1 p.m. this Saturday as part of the Kai to Pie exhibition.

The following Saturday, July 10, is the Scottish World on Your Plate

Kai to Pie: Auckland on Your Plate reveals and revels in what it means to be an Aucklander. Get a taste of Auckland this winter.

ENDS

What: Kai to Pie: Auckland on Your Plate
Where: Auckland Museum, Special Exhibitions Hall
Cost: Free admission
Download images here: http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/655/media-kit-2009

Snapshot of the Exhibition:

Fashion:

Take a front-row seat at our runway and feast your eyes on some past and present stars of Auckland’s food culture. A bespoke fashion runway has been built in the Special Exhibitions Hall to display an eclectic line-up of objects that tell the evolving story of eating, cooking and dining in New Zealand’s largest city. From the Edmonds Cookery Book to the Sunbeam Mixmaster and a Miller’s espresso coffee machine, marvel at our changing tastes.

Feast:
Whether we’re eating out of fine china or old newspaper, Aucklanders love to feast. We feast to celebrate, mourn, assert mana and, of course, to be good hosts. In Kai to Pie: Auckland on a Plate discover amazing tales of Aucklanders feasting.

The Remuera Feast
One of New Zealand’s most lavish gatherings was the Remuera Feast of 1844. Around 4000 guests assembled between Mt Hobson (Remuera) and Mt St John (Titikopuke), and for four days dined on 9000 sharks and 11,000 baskets of potatoes. The event was a spectacular display of Maori power and strength. According to written accounts the feast was hosted by tribes from Waikato led by Te Wherowhero and Wiremu Wetere Te Kauae to assert mana and to reciprocate past feasts. Read tales and discover illustrations of the feast in the exhibition.

The Government Feast
Homesick guests invited to the 1854 Queen’s Birthday Ball and Banquet in Auckland braved driving rain and the knee-deep mud to reach the Albert Barracks. On arrival, guests were treated like royalty. The hosts had transformed a basic settlers building into a makeshift London ballroom. Glasses were filled with the finest French champagne and plates circulated with such delicacies as lobster (the imported tinned variety). Find objects from the feast and read first-hand accounts in Kai to Pie.

Fuel:

Auckland’s fertile soil and bountiful harbours have kept the local population well fed for hundreds of years. Watch rare film footage of Aucklanders through the ages putting in the hard graft to harvest and prepare our city’s edible fuel.

Future:

Through a series of interactive touch screens experience food for thought. Find out how New Zealand food facts compare with other countries, look inside a fridge of the future, and explore the interconnected world of fisheries.

ENDS

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