 MTG Hawke's Bay building | |
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Former name | Hawke’s Bay Museum & Art Gallery |
|---|---|
| Established | 1865 |
| Location | Napier, New Zealand |
| Type | Museum, theatre and art gallery |
| Founder | William Colenso, Henry Hill and Augustus Hamilton |
| Director | Laura Vodanovich |
MTG Hawke's Bay Tai Ahuriri (formerly Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery) is a museum, theatre and art gallery (hence the name) in Napier in New Zealand. [1] MTG Hawke's Bay occupies three buildings that were redeveloped in 2013. [2]
The first building on the museum site was constructed in 1865 as an athenaeum with the purpose of providing a space for cultural and learning opportunities for the Hawke's Bay community. [3] The Hawke's Bay Philosophical and Mechanic's Institute was based in this building during the early 19th century and contributed ideas on art and science to the province. Individuals behind these early institutions were William Colenso, [4] Henry Hill and Augustus Hamilton.
The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake considerably damaged the institutes’ collections but the building was one of few to remain standing. The earthquake underscored Hawke's Bay's need for a purpose-built art gallery and museum for the safekeeping of the region's treasures. [5] n 1936 a new building was constructed with funds raised from the Hawke's Bay community. It was designed by architect James Augustus Louis Hay. Leonard Bestall was appointed honorary director to the newly built Hawke's Bay Art Gallery and Museum. [6] A series of generous bequests enriched the museum's collection and also provided the funds to purchase the artwork Renaissance by Roland Hipkins. [7]
After Bestall's death in 1959 the museum was run by numerous directors, each one adding their own personal passions to the collection and museum buildings. James Munro was appointed director in 1959 and concentrated on building a strong collection of decorative art objects. His dedication for a broader role for the museum led to the construction of the Century Theatre in 1977. The theatre was named for the centenary of the city of Napier and it was designed by modernist Guy Natusch and acted as a concert chamber. In 1980 Robert McGregor was appointed director of the Hawke's Bay museum and undertook the task of redeveloping the collection storage areas. In 1984 taonga from the museum's collection were included in the Te Māori exhibition which toured American institutions such as the Met and St Louis Art Museum.
In 2006 the Napier City Council took over management of Hawke's Bay Museum. Douglas Lloyd Jenkins was appointed director and the name of the institution changed to Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery. The Hawke's Bay Museums Trust [8] was re-formed to become a Trust that holds the museum's collections for the benefit of the community. In July 2010 the Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery closed to undertake a three-year redevelopment project. The completed MTG Hawke's Bay facility opened on 21 September 2013 and incorporates the two older buildings on the site with a new wing designed by architect Richard Daniels. [9] The building won two architectural awards in the annual New Zealand Architecture awards, in the categories Public Architecture and Heritage for the Gisborne and Hawke's Bay region. [10]
The museum's collection is held in trust by the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi. The fine arts collection includes works by national figures such as Rita Angus, Roland Hipkins, Jenny Campbell, Avis Higgs, Frank Carpay, Joan Trollope and Walter Bowring. The museum also has significant historical artifacts including archive material, natural history specimens, social history artifacts, Taonga Māori objects, costume and textiles, and a World Cultures collection. [11]
Napier is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lined with Norfolk pines, and extensive Art Deco architecture. Napier is sometimes referred to as the "Nice of the Pacific", although that is largely outdated and a more common nickname is 'The Art Deco Capital of the world'.
The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, also known as the Napier earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47 am on 3 February, killing 256, injuring thousands and devastating the Hawke's Bay region. It remains New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster. Centred 15 km north of Napier, it lasted for two and a half minutes and had a magnitude of 7.8 Ms (7.7 Mw). There were 525 aftershocks recorded in the following two weeks, with 597 being recorded by the end of February. The main shock could be felt in much of New Zealand, with reliable reports coming in from as far south as Timaru, on the east coast of the South Island.
Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Māhia Peninsula. It is on State Highway 2, 118 kilometres (73 mi) northeast of Napier, and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Gisborne. Wairoa is the nearest town to the Te Urewera protected area and former national park that is accessible from Wairoa via State Highway 38. It is the largest town in the district of Wairoa, and is one of three towns in New Zealand, the others being Kawerau and Ōpōtiki, where Māori outnumber other ethnicities, with 62.29% of the population identifying as Māori.
The Hawke's Bay Province was a province of New Zealand. The province separated from the Wellington Province following a meeting in Napier in February 1858, and existed until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. At the time of its establishment in 1858, the European population of the provincial district was only 1,185.
Dame Gaylene Mary Preston is a New Zealand filmmaker with a particular interest in documentary films.
William Colenso FRS was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician. He attended the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and later wrote an account of the events at Waitangi.
Peter Northe Wells was a New Zealand writer, filmmaker, and historian. He was mainly known for his fiction, but also explored his interest in gay and historical themes in a number of expressive drama and documentary films from the 1980s onwards.
James Augustus Louis Hay was a prominent New Zealand architect. He designed many new Art Deco buildings in Napier after the 1931 earthquake that had destroyed much of the town.
Te Manawa is a museum, art gallery and science centre in Palmerston North, New Zealand. It is operated by the Te Manawa Museums Trust, a charitable trust incorporated on 20 August 1999. From that date, the Trust assumed responsibility for art works and heritage assets transferred to its care but held on behalf of others. From 1 July 2000 the Trust commenced leasing the premises and managing the institution under agreements entered into with the Palmerston North City Council.
Awatoto is a coastal suburb area within the city of Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. It stretches along the coast south of Te Awa and the central city. The northern part of Awatoto is residential, while the southern part is industrial, including heavy industry.
The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
Tony Kuepfer is an American-New Zealand glass artist.
Avis Winifred Higgs was a New Zealand textile designer and painter.
Frances Edith Cresswell, commonly known as Fanny Buss, was a textile and fashion designer from New Zealand active from the 1950s to the 1980s. Buss was also a printmaker, writer and book illustrator. Examples of her fashion designs are held in the collections of museums around New Zealand including in the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Otago Museum, MTG Hawke's Bay and also feature in the New Zealand Fashion Museum. Buss was a working member of the Canterbury Society of the Arts.
Roland Hipkins (1894–1951) was an English artist who worked extensively in New Zealand between 1922 and 1951. He is especially noted for his work done in the wake of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake. Works by Hipkins are held by the Hawkes Bay Cultural Trust, the Royal College of Art in London, and the Sarjeant Art Gallery in Wanganui.
Raymond Henry "Sandy" Adsett is a New Zealand visual artist and educator. He is acknowledged for championing the art of kōwhaiwhai painting, creating a context for the artform within the development of contemporary Māori art.
Elizabeth Matheson was a New Zealand potter. Her works are held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. She was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to pottery.
Claire Regnault is a New Zealand historian, curator and non-fiction writer. In 2022, her book Dressed: Fashionable Dress in Aotearoa New Zealand 1840 to 1910 won an Ockham New Zealand Book Award.
Napier Technical College was a technical education college in Napier, New Zealand. It was established in 1909, and after damage from the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, which killed nine students, it was disestablished and amalgamated into Napier Boys' High School and Napier Girls' High School.
39°29′19″S176°55′08″E / 39.4887°S 176.9189°E
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