Toitū Otago Settlers Museum Builds International Connections

Dunedin, 15 October, 2013 – Planned exhibitions marking the 100th anniversary of World War I and Dunedin’s special Scottish heritage are already producing valuable international connections for Toitū Otago Settlers Museum.

Acting Director Jennifer Evans says both exhibitions are significant ones for Toitū and the WW100 exhibition is part of a huge international collaboration to commemorate the Great War.

“Otago battalions played a huge part ion New Zealand’s war effort and paid a hefty price. We want to make sure that their contribution is marked in a suitable way so that today’s generation can gain some comprehension of what they put themselves through for King and country.”

Preliminary work is already well underway for Toitū’s Centennial exhibition next year and links have been established with the Passchendaele and Messines Museums in Belgium.

“These sorts of links are particularly exciting. We have already begun information sharing with these museums and there is the potential offer of loan objects for our exhibitions.”

Toitū is also developing a relationship with an international conglomerate of museums working on an information project known as the Gallipoli centenary education project 2015.

This exciting educational project will bring together cultural heritage organisations (museums, historic houses, archive services, arts centres) and schools in Britain, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand.

Curator Seán Brosnahan, who has been responsible for many of the WW100 links, has also used a recent visit to established stronger ties with the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in the village of Alloway in Scotland, in preparation for the Scottish Exhibition in January next year.

He says Toitū has also been invited to be part of Burns Scotland which is a grouping of museums, libraries, galleries, archives and experts that look after a range of Burns collections and artefacts.

"It is good to have made those personal and professional connections, and it also gave me the opportunity to do research on some of Toitū's Burns artefacts."

Preparation is already well underway for the Robbie Rocks Dunedin 2014 competition early next year in which local musicians will be asked to pick one of six Burns songs from a list and reinterpret it in a modern idiom.

There are two sections - youth and open - and finalists will get to perform their piece in the Octagon on Saturday 25 January, with the section winners going on to perform at Toitū that night as part of the Burns Night.

ENDS

© Scoop Media