Hawke's Bay Museum

19/06/2026

🌟 Volunteer Week at the Museum 🌟☕

This week, we had the pleasure of celebrating the incredible volunteers who give their time, skills, and enthusiasm to support our museum and community.

As a small token of our appreciation, we hosted a special morning tea ☕🍰 with an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Amokura. Volunteers enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about this korowai, hear its story, and gain insight into the care and preservation work that happens behind the scenes 🫶🏛️

Our volunteers play a vital role in helping us share history, welcome visitors, and bring our collections to life. We are deeply grateful for their dedication and commitment.

Thank you to all our volunteers, past and present, for everything you do. 💜🌿

18/06/2026

From the Collection: 90,000 stories

📸✨ Then vs. Now: A Century of Photography! ✨📱

Have you ever wondered what taking a photo was like before smartphones? 🤔

Meet the Kodak 3A Photographic Junior Camera, a remarkable piece of early 1900s technology!

📷 With its folding bellows, manual focus, and film photography, capturing a single image took patience, skill, and careful planning. Back then, cameras like this were revolutionary. For the first time, everyday people could take their own photographs, preserving family memories, holidays, and special moments. ❤️

Fast forward to today, and most of us carry a camera in our pocket📱✨
We can snap thousands of photos, edit them instantly, and share them with friends and whānau around the world in seconds.

🔍 What's changed over the last century?

📷 One carefully planned photo ➡️ Unlimited instant snapshots
🎞️ Physical film ➡️ Digital storage
✉️ Mailed photographs and postcards ➡️ Instant global sharing

Next time you take a selfie or capture a special moment, imagine waiting days (or even weeks) to see the result! 😲

📸 The Kodak 3A Photographic Junior Camera. Collection of Hawke's Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi [40862]

16/06/2026

✨Matariki at Kahukura Hawke’s Bay Museum

✨ Celebrate the magic of Matariki with an unforgettable learning experience! ✨
Step into a transformed whare tapere in the Education Suite and immerse your tamariki in the rich traditions and stories of Matariki. 🌟

✨Ākonga will:
📖 Listen to captivating Matariki pūrākau
🎲 Take part in fun ngā tākaro (traditional games)
🎭 Enjoy engaging, hands-on activities
🏛️ Explore our fascinating museum exhibitions

✨Perfect for:
👶 ECE learners
🎒 Primary students up to Year 6

✨This interactive programme brings te ao Māori, storytelling, play, and discovery together in a meaningful and memorable way.

📅 Schools - book now for Terms 2 and 3
📧 [email protected]
✨Spaces are limited — secure your visit and give your students a Matariki experience they'll remember long after the stars appear. ✨⭐

14/06/2026

Volunteers are the heartbeat of our communities ❤️🫶

🌟On Volunteer Week, let's celebrate and thank the people who give so much to our community.

From preserving local history and culture to creating meaningful connections, their generosity of time and talent makes a lasting difference across Hawke’s Bay.

Discover how volunteers support the work of Hawke’s Bay Museum. Their contributions remind us that even small acts of service can have a big impact 👇

https://www.hawkesbaymuseum.com/home/article/298/volunteers-support-and-enrich-our-communities?return=%2Fhome&returnTitle=Home

11/06/2026

🚂📸 From the Archives:

Step back in time to Dannevirke Railway Station, captured here shortly after its construction in 1903 🚂

For 80 years, this bustling station connected people, goods, and stories, playing a vital role in the growth of the town and wider region.

Look closely and you'll spot a K Class locomotive approaching the platform, a steam engine built in New Jersey in 1878 that later worked the Hawke’s Bay railway lines.

With its striking Marseilles tile roof and ornate canopy, the station became one of Dannevirke’s most recognisable landmarks before its demolition in 1983.

Do you have memories of Dannevirke Railway Station, or family stories connected to it? We'd love to hear them in the comments.

📷 Collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi [81974]

10/06/2026

What would it be like to come face-to-face with a portrait of yourself approximately 50 years later? 👥

Hawke's Bay local Glenda Palmer knows the feeling. Painted in the 1970s, her portrait by Dame Robin White is featured in the exhibition 'Something is Happening Here', prompting memories and reflections on a moment captured in time✨

Read the remarkable story behind the painting, the enduring friendship and the woman at its centre 👇
https://bit.ly/3Q6Ww1W

Robin White: Something is Happening Here is currently on display at Hawke's Bay Museum until 19 July 2026. Developed and presented by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
More info: https://www.hawkesbaymuseum.com/whats-on/event/933446/robin-white-tuituia-something-is-happening-here

08/06/2026

What’s On:

🎨✨ Experience an unforgettable clash of artistic giants on the big screen!

Join us at Century Theatre Napier for Turner & Constable, a stunning new documentary celebrating the 250th anniversaries of two of Britain’s most celebrated painters. Discover the friendship, rivalry, and remarkable legacy behind their breathtaking landscapes, with exclusive access to Tate Britain’s landmark exhibition.

From Turner’s dramatic, luminous skies to Constable’s beloved rural scenes, this is a must-see event for art lovers and curious minds alike.

🎟️ Book your tickets now and see these masterpieces come to life on the big screen.

👉Tickets: https://www.store.hawkesbaymuseum.com/event

Screening times:
🕖Thursday 11 June at 7pm
🕑Sunday 14 June at 2pm

05/06/2026

💚 What makes pounamu more than just a stone?

For the ākonga of Te Ara Hou, a recent visit to Amokura, Hawke’s Bay Museum’s new collections storage building offered a powerful opportunity to connect with the stories, whakapapa, and cultural significance held within these treasured taonga✨

🪨💚 Discover how hands-on learning and taonga Māori are helping inspire deeper understanding, identity, and connection for rangatahi in our region.

📖 Read the full story on our website:

A school group of secondary students from kura kaupapa school, Te Ara Hou, recently visited Amokura, the new Hastings storage facility for the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust collection. They came to view and research greenstone objects, kākahu/cloaks, waka, fine arts including works from Fiona Parding...

04/06/2026

📜 From the Archives:

🚴‍♂️You’re looking at a late-19th-century group portrait of the Wanderers’ Bicycle Club in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, photographed in December 1893. This was right in the early boom of recreational and competitive cycling.

🏁 Behind the members is a board listing distances, likely in miles, suggesting this meet included timed races or competitions. With their early “safety bicycles” and a mix of racing gear and formal dress, these riders capture a time when cycling was both a sport and a social event 🎩👒

🖼️ The Wanderers Cycle Club 1893, collection of Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust, Ruawharo Tā-ū-rangi, [84569] Public Domain.