Southern Heritage Celebrated in New Gallery

Forest and Bird, Issue 306, 1 November 2002, Page 9

Southern Heritage Celebrated in New Gallery

is the collections & research

manager at the Otago Museum and was project manager for the gallery.

BRIAN

PATRICK

he history and nature of .... southern New Zealand are featured in an extensive development at Otago Museum. Called ‘Southern land, Southern People’, the new gallery occupies 1200 square metres on the top floor of a new building. Combining both human and natural history stories, the gallery seeks to celebrate what is special about the south, and in particular Otago. The gallery features a series of journeys based on four major themes: ¢ the geological history of southern New Zealand that led to the distinctive southern landscapes e the history of life on these ancient surfaces from 500 million years ago to the present, both on land and in the sea ¢ the story of how both Maori and European have explored and settled this rugged land with its challenging climate, and utilised the natural resources e and how they have thrived and developed a distinctive southern character that manifests itself in art, photography, poetry, writings and other pursuits such as adventure tourism With a huge night sky overhead the visitor is introduced to ten icons of Southern New Zealand. Features include a cave with the remains

of extinct bird, reptile and mammal species; a display of 32 extinct bird species, including eight moa species, with paintings reconstructing all the species; and an array of marine fossils, mostly on loan from the University of Otago’s Geology Department, depicting the history of life in the surrounding seas. A recently named eight-metre-long plesiosaur is the centrepiece of an exhibit that takes the visitor forward in time on both land and sea, examining the evolution of life. Other highlights include a 30-minute audio-visual, surveyor John Turnbull Thomson’s story and his theodolite from the 1850s, and an entrance tunnel to a hard-rock gold mine. The gallery is encyclopedic in its approach. Graphic panels introduce and summarise the main stories. These alone contain in excess of 25,000 words plus fresh images from amongst the 56 new paintings commissioned for the gallery from a variety of local artists, and hundreds of photographs. Much new information is included based on the latest research findings. For example, the visitor will be confronted with a three-metre-long model crocodile, and view snakes and crocodiles co-existing in an Everglades-like setting in

Central Otago 17 million years ago. The complex geology of Southern New Zealand is explored through touchable examples of various rocks, a

model volcano and graphics exposing the key geological

processes at work. —