So why was 2008 such a strong year for Te Papa? The answer is in
this year's Annual Report. “The strong visitor performance in 2008/09 can be attributed
to successful choices around visitor experience, but especially Monet and
the Impressionists, the Colossal Squid, and Rita Angus: Life and Vision.”
Yes, art proved itself a major attractor for Te Papa (two of the Big Three 08 attractors) and is
used constantly to push the brand. Of the seven shows Te Papa toured in New
Zealand last year, five of them were art exhibitions.
Yet, art is still Te Papa's unwanted child relegated to unsuitable makeshift spaces up five flights of stairs or via a confusing lift/stair combo. The fact is Te Papa has still not put to rest the shadow of MONZ (Museum of New Zealand) in which the independence and credibility of art were gleefully destroyed by art bureaucrats. For a cold-water-in-the-face experience check out Gaylene Preston's extraordinary fly-on-the-wall documentary film Getting to our place. It's a chilling real-time record of the early development of Te Papa. You can view it here.
And what is Te Papa’s solution to the anti-art legacy instituted by Ken
Gorbey and Ian Wedde? “Work is underway on the Proposition for Art project,
which seeks to establish Te Papa as a nationally and internationally recognised
premier institution for art and visual culture in New Zealand, from its
earliest expressions to the present day”.
Next week we will have another look at the Te Papa report. Our question,
where are the lost children?
