Work on Invercargill Museum and Art Gallery progresses

Work on the Southland Museum and Art Gallery is progressing with a new name and a new vision for telling the stories of Southland.

In its long-term plan, Invercargill City Council committed $ 39.4 million to redevelop the city’s museum and art gallery, which were closed in 2018 due to significant earthquake risks. Earth.

In August, a governance group was formed to reinvent the museum and make recommendations to the council on the best outcomes for providing future cultural facilities in the city.

Group chairman Rex Williams said they had made significant progress in creating a vision statement for the future facility and established critical success factors for its future.

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“The vision for this future cultural facility is coming to fruition and we are working to explore the stories of Murihiku Southland.

“It will be unique to Invercargill and Southland, a reflection of its people, leaving the visitor with a deeper understanding of the history of Murihiku and New Zealand while being resilient, educational and flexible.”

The group was given the name Te Unua from Waihōpai Rūnaka Inc and Te Rūnanga o Awarua as a working title for this stage of the project.

Evelyn Cook, named by the RÅ«naka group, said that unua was a reference to the traveling double-hulled waka as a reflection of several dualities – mana whenua and tauiwi, ​​arts and museum, coast and urban, Aotearoa and the world.

“Unua is about travel and exploration, shared travel and individual strands, the achievements of communities and individuals.

“The strength of Te Unua is that if both parties work together, you can reach your ultimate destination. “

Leisure and recreation council group leader Steve Gibling said the task force is analyzing the best possible location and storage solutions.

“We are on the verge of being able to present a functional case and develop options for the board to consider. “

The group also focused on what the customer experience should deliver, how services and facilities would be shared with mana whenua, how a strong educational program would be supported and to ensure that the design had an overall cost estimate of operating, he said.

The governance group is chaired by Chairman Rex Williams and also includes Evelyn Cook, appointed by RÅ«naka, Gavin Bishop, Trish Lindsay, Lou Sanson, Roger Beattie and Simon Owen.