Exhibition On Kiwi Legend To Open At Museum

MEDIA RELEASE 24 October 2002

Exhibition On Kiwi Legend To Open At Auckland Museum

A landmark exhibition on our greatest living New Zealander, opens tonight at Auckland Museum (Thursday 24th October).

The exhibition, entitled “Sir Edmund Hillary: Everest and Beyond”, charts the extraordinary life of Sir Edmund Hillary, from his early days as an Auckland school boy and first forays into mountain climbing, to his ascent of Everest and extensive humanitarian work for the people of Nepal.

Organised in association with National Geographic Society’s Explorers Hall, the exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of the Everest ascent.

Highlights include: the never-before-seen ice-axe which saw Sir Edmund to the top of Everest; his tiny Kodak camera which took the famous summit shots, his Everest diary and a host of facsimilie Sherpa buildings including a school decorated with drawings and messages from Himalayan children, and a Sherpa kitchen complete with yak butter tea urns. Also on display is one of the Massey Ferguson tractors which Sir Edmund drove to the South Pole in the late 1950s.

“Sir Edmund Hillary: Everest and Beyond” will be opened by Dame Silvia Cartwright, Governor-General of New Zealand and is on display until 28 February 2003. It will then travel on to Washington where it will be exhibited at Explorers Hall in time for the 50th anniversary of the 1953 expedition on 29 May.

ENDS

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