Keeping up to date with the New Zealand National Maritime Museum just got a whole lot easier with the launch of this – our weekly blog! Our website www.maritimemuseum.co.nz has had a bit of a facelift over recent months, and this blog is the next evolution in its design and function.
You can expect exhibition announcements and insights, behind-the-scene previews and interviews with key Maritime Museum contributors, and debate and discussion on topical issues. Interactivity is a feature of the Maritime Museum experience, and that extends to our blog too – so feel free to comment on our posts, and suggest topics that you’d like to see featured, and we’ll do our best to oblige.
New exhibitions on display right now
There’s been a fair bit of buzz around the Maritime Museum in recent weeks with the opening of two new exhibitions in our temporary exhibition space, the Bob Croker Gallery. First out of the blocks was “Farewell to Sails – remembering the last days of the sailing ships”. Created by the Aland Maritime Museum of Finland, the exhibition commemorates the 60th anniversary of the last voyage around Cape Horn by the last of the Finnish windjammers - Passat and Pamir. Transporting grain from South Australia to the UK via Cape Horn, these grand sailing ships attracted notoriety for the betting games that followed their race to their destination – the infamous ‘Grain Races’.
Left: A number of Kiwi sailors who sailed aboard Pamir during the 1940s helped us launch the exhibition, and here our CEO Paul Evans (far left) is seen with (l-r) Captain George Gunn, Ron Montgomery and Pat Ross.
Right: Captain George Gunn and Pat Ross look over some familiar faces from their days aboard Pamir, whilst she sailed under the New Zealand flag.
Pamir has particularly strong links to New Zealand, being seized as a prize of war by the NZ Government in 1941! She went on to sail under the NZ ensign for 8 years and 160,000 miles, all the while capturing the imagination of a country. More than 240 New Zealanders crewed her during this period – some of whom have contributed oral histories to the exhibition. Full details of the exhibition, which will on display into Summer 2010, can be found here.
No rest for the wicked
No sooner had we launched ‘Farewell to Sails’ than planning went into overdrive to prepare a second temporary display for opening - ‘Spanish Expeditions to the South Pacific in the 16th – 18th centuries'. This came complete with royalty in the form of a visit by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, who were on an official New Zealand visit to open the Spanish Embassy in Wellington.
Left: King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain cast an eye over our new exhibition.
Spain’s involvement in the early exploration of the South Pacific is not especially well documented, yet evidence and speculation exist which point to Spain’s proto-discovery of New Zealand long before Cook, by a boat that was subsequently lost at sea. The ‘one that got away’ to beat all others, perhaps.
This exhibition has been mounted to commemorate both the 400th anniversary of Spanish expeditions to the South Pacific and also, to honour the spirit and vigour that brought Spanish sailors to uncharted Pacific waters. It’s on display until September in the Bob Croker Gallery, and you can read more about it here.
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2 comments:
I have just had a look at the new website and it is awesome! It looks really cool, and is super easy to navigate. I also like that you have a blog now too, and , yes, of course I am following!
Thank you.
thank you for your nice posting
Bathmate
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