Inside the Art Collection
with Damian Skinner
The Damian Skinner Lecture Series:
Led by Dr Damian Skinner, each session features a panel of local and imported experts who will nut out the complex, controversial and critical issues for contemporary art.
We want to see more art in our local environment; we want to promote what is unique about Tairawhiti through the arts; and discussion is as good a place as any to start the ball rolling.
This series is about many things: It’s about growing the audience for art; it’s about the opportunity to meet others in the community with similar interests; it’s about developing
visual literacy, learning another language - the visual language; and quite simply, it’s both motivational and inspirational. The Skinner Lecture series is great value entertainment, with the power to lift your mood from weary to warm. So what are you waiting for?
Watersheds forms a river that flows through the history of our region. Beginning with Mâori accounts of how the world began and where people came from, this river of Tairâwhiti history finishes in the ocean of the present, next to the bustling city of Gisborne, Tűranganui-a-Kiwa. In each of these watersheds, Mâori and later Pâkehâ settlers have occupied the river valleys and coastal plains, naming the landscape, creating settlements and making a living from the land and the sea.
 What: Digging up the past: archaeology and history
When: 1.30pm, Saturday 11 July 2009
Where: Tairâwhiti Museum
In our first session, we’ve invited three people to come and speak about archaeology, the science of digging up the past and uncovering the layers of history that tell us about our ancestors and how they lived. Pam Bain, from the Department of Conservation, and Anne McGuire, Aitanga-a-Hauiti Excavation Management Committee, will talk about the recent excavation at Cook’s Cove, and local historian Sheila Robinson will tell us about the events of 1769 that help to make it an important site. How is the past uncovered, and what implications does it hold for us in the present?
Bone Lure Point
14th century
Z10482
L 2008.75
This lure point was excavated by archaeologists in 2007 from Cook’s Cove. It is made of moa bone and would have been attached to a wooden or bone lure shank. Trolling lures were used for catching surface fish like kahawai and barracouta. The hole at the base of the lure point is to hold the harakeke (flax) thread which binds the point to the lure shank.
The number Z10482 was assigned to this fish-hook by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. The Protected Objects Act 1975 requires all taonga tűturu (Mâori artefacts) to be reported to the Ministry within 28 days of being found. This also applies to taonga tuturu found during archaeological excavations. The Ministry then consults with the tangata whenua, the local iwi (tribe) or hapu (subtribe) to determine who the customary kaitiaki (guardians) are. Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti of Tolaga Bay have been recognised as tangata whenua at Cook's Cove and they are the kaitiaki of the taonga tűturu recovered from the Cook's Cove excavation.
Toki - Adze Head, Side Hafted
1988.103
This is a side-hafted toki that functioned as an axe rather than an adze. Side hafted adzes are very rare in the North Island and are known to be from the early period of Mâori settlement, since the same kinds of adze were also made in Eastern Polynesia. This adze head is made of basalt extracted from a quarry at Tahanga in the Coromandel region of the North Island. It was found on Waihina Station at Muriwai, 20 kilometres south of Gisborne.
 What: Watersheds: important moments in Tairâwhiti history
When: 5.30pm, Wednesday 15 July 2009
Where: Tairâwhiti Museum
In our second session, three local historians join us for a discussion about significant watersheds in the history of this region. From the first meeting of Mâori and Pâkehâ, to the spread of Christianity, to the development of industry and economic infrastructure, Sheila Robinson, Monty Soutar and Sheridan Gundry will talk about specific moments in the past that changed the present.
Wool Press
early 20th century
wood
1971.237
This pocket wool press (so-called because of its small size) was used on remote high-country stations. Being small, it produced wool bales that could be conveniently transported on horseback along the narrow and winding trails from inland farms to the coast.
Descendants of A. H. Wallis have suggested that this wool press is of the same design as one he invented and used on his sheep station at Horehore.
 Bill Beatty
Horehore Packing Track
December 1931
421-32
What: ‘Pacific Art Niu Sila’: thinking about Pacific art in Aotearoa
When: 5.30pm, Tuesday 21 July 2009
Where: Tairâwhiti Museum
We are also privileged to have Sean Mallon, Curator of History, Pacific from Te Papa come and talk about Pacific art in Aotearoa. Sean will discuss how Te Papa and other institutions are tackling the complex stories of Pacific peoples, and dealing with the diversity of Pacific art and culture.
Winter Series 2009 download pdf Winter Series Media Release 
with Damian Skinner
The Friends of the Tairawhiti Museum are following up the very successful series of events held last year with a new programme of talks over the winter months of 2009. Join us for your opportunity to get up close with the treasures of the Tairawhiti Museum, and to learn more about the wide world of art and culture that your local museum represents.
Over the coming months you will have the opportunity to tour the museum’s changing series of exhibitions, and hear a wide range of local and visiting speakers. From the value of bad art, to the challenges of teaching art, from the many forms of contemporary Pacific art, to the role of ornament in local architecture, the Winter Series 2009 is guaranteed to generate just the right amount of cultural heat and light to keep you warm as the days grow colder and shorter.
NORMAN SCOTT - Alan Barns-Graham
What: What’s Good About Bad Art?
When: 5.30pm, Wednesday 13 May 2009
Where: Tairawhiti Museum
Take a tour with Damian Skinner through the underbelly of fine art, from the plush world of velvet painting to the scenery of calendar and chocolate box landscapes. Rightfully dismissed or unjustly maligned? Whatever you believe, What’s Good About Bad Art? suggests there’s some surprising things to be discovered in the borderlands of the art world.
What: Artist’s Choice: The Tairawhiti Museum Art Collection
When: 1.30pm, Saturday 23 May 2009
Where: Tairawhiti Museum
CORNFIELD - Phylis Underdown
Join us for a tour of the Gisborne Art Society’s exhibition, followed by an opportunity to hear art society members Norman Maclean, Phyllis Underdown, Graeme Mudge and Kath Mclaughlin talk about their favourite works from the Tairawhiti Museum’s collection.
Talking Textiles
The next public event being run by the Friends of the Tairawhiti Museum will be taking place on Sunday 19 October. Join Damian Skinner and a panel of experts as they explore the museum’s textile collection. From the quirky and creative quilts that warmed a generation of Tairawhiti settlers in the late nineteenth century, to the stylish frocks that the best dressed citizens of Gisborne proudly wore in the early years of the twentieth century, this session will introduce you to the stories, technologies and aspirations captured in the stitched fabrics of the past.
Cost: Free to members of Creative Tairawhiti and Friends of the Museum, or $5 per talk for the general public. Gold coin admission for Students/Pace. Bookings are essential, call the museum, or email: lrattray@tairawhitimuseum.org.nz
Treasures of the Museum: The Legacy of the Lysnars
We don’t know the exact circumstances in which William Douglas Lysnar acquired this cameo brooch and earrings, probably for his wife, Ida Lysnar (nee Tiffen). It is possible that they were purchased overseas. Such items were often bought as souvenirs of the Grand Tour, in which wealthy tourists experienced the sights and cultures of Europe.
The classical style of these cameos, the flowing drapery and exquisite delicacy of the carving, suggests the artist was deliberately making references to the heritage of European art. Cameos themselves are an ancient form of relief carving, popular in both Greece and ancient Rome.
We know these cameos were set in 18 carat gold and surrounded with (surprisingly) simulated pearls at the beginning of the twentieth century. In tune with the sentimental Edwardian age, the back of the brooch has a compartment in which a lock of hair can be kept – a keepsake of a loved one.
They are a wonderful example of the cultural treasures that the Lysnar family collected and gifted to the people of Tairawhiti. Such objects represent the wealth of European culture and heritage that Pakeha settlers valued and incorporated into their lives – whether in the form of beautiful objects, as in these cameos, or through literature, music and the performing arts.
The story of the Tairawhiti Museum is closely connected to the Lysnar family. In 1954 Winifred Lysnar donated a house and the land on which it stood to the city of Gisborne, which became the first museum, run by the Gisborne Art Society. These links are celebrated in Allan Barns-Graham’s Portrait of Winifred Lysnar.
Barns-Graham, official war artist and art teacher at Gisborne Girls High, was a key figure in the establishment of the museum. This painting is more than a visual record of a great benefactor. It is also a record of the connections between individuals who made the present museum possible, the people who fostered cultural activities in our region.
 
The museum and its collections are one legacy of the Lysnar family. But their effect on Tairawhiti was much wider than simply being benefactors. W.D. Lysnar was a lawyer with a fearless reputation. His legal wig is a reminder of the foundation of his career, and his wealth, which quickly grew to include many business ventures – some successful, and some that proved too ambitious even for him. Among his other achievements he was mayor of Gisborne, and Member of Parliament for the Gisborne electorate for 12 years.
Terewhiti Rocks - Eric N. Gully
What: Apple for the Teacher
When: 5.30pm, Wednesday 10 June 2009
Where: Tairâwhiti Museum
The Friends have organised a discussion looking at the relationship between art teachers and their students. All around our city people study art every day. Come along and hear teachers and students from secondary and tertiary institutions and the Gisborne Art Society talk about what goes on in the art room.
What: The Acquisitive Eye: Private Collections in Tairâwhiti
When: 1.30pm, Saturday 20 June 2009
Where: Tairâwhiti Museum
Dice - Anneke Borren
Collectors are everywhere. One in four people actively collect something, which means that someone you know is, right now, involved in obsessively and passionately acquiring objects for their collection. In this session the Friends have invited three local collectors to speak about what they collect, how they got involved, and why they do this most human activity. We’ll also tour the museum exhibition Samples : Recent Acquisitions, which showcases some of the recent additions to the collection of the Tairâwhiti Museum.
Current series now on, click here for details.......
Creative Tairawhiti are delighted to be partnering with the Tairawhiti Museum to present the Damian Skinner Lecture Series. The public are encouraged to come along to these talks and take advantage of some brilliant art resources. More information at www.skinnerlectures.tairawhitiarts.net.
This series is funded with the support of Regional Strengths Maurangi Toi & CLANZ.
Copyright © Tairawhiti Museum
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