Label of the week - Glen Skipper

This week's personalised label is written by Glen Skipper, Curator Taonga Māori.  Glen obviously hunted around for one of the least known, mysterious little displays he could find ... it would be safe to say most Puke Ariki staff didn't even know this drawer of shells existed!

Shell drawer, Taranaki Naturally Gallery

Glen's label records his reaction to stumbling across this little-known drawer ...

(click on label for a larger image)



... and succinctly expresses the frustration of finding a display with no labels!!!  

A hearty congratulations also to Clare O'Connell, who is the FIRST person to submit a label for the second round of personalised labels.  She was duly rewarded with a Ruru badge AND a buzz bar (the shop was out of chocolate fish!).  [disclaimer: Clare only got a buzz bar for being the first to write a label, so don't get your hopes up!!!]

The Ruru team eagerly awaits your new reminiscences ...

Label of the week - Te Maari Barham

This week's featured personalised label is from Te Maari Barham, our A.G. Buist Technician.  Given that her time here (so far anyway!) has revolved around scanning photographs of archaeological digs and moa bones, perhaps it was no wonder she chose to write about the small moa skeleton on display in Taranaki Naturally:



A70.622 - Moa skeleton (collection of Puke Ariki)

Te Maari's label muses on the toughness of a little moa that managed to outlive its larger family members: 

(click on the label for a larger image)

Te Maari's label is the first object in the I Digress ... on the subject of suffering and endurance scavenger hunt.  If you can endure the whole hunt you get a bright pink Ruru badge as a reward!

As Rebecca Connor mentioned in last week's staff meeting, we will be calling for new personalised label submissions in a few weeks' time.  The Ruru team is also working on some other exciting ideas, so we'll keep you posted!  In the meantime, keep an eye out for that obscure yet wonderful object you may wish to write about ...

Label of the week - Nathan Hills

This week's featured personalised label comes from Environmental Education Officer Nathan Hills.  His object of inspiration was the classic Swanndri:

TM2002.075 - John Mack Ltd, Jacket, Swanndri (circa 1960s) (Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth)

Nathan's recollections of donning a Swanndri hint at a traumatic relationship with the legendary garb of all good Kiwi men:

(if you click on the image it will get bigger)



Perhaps wearing the good ol' Swannie wasn't all it was cracked up to be!

Nathan's label is on display with a range of Swanndri garments in the Taranaki Life gallery.  His label also features in the purple I Digress ... scavenger hunt, which has the theme of fashion, craft and design.  If you haven't given it a whirl yet, try it out and collect your very own purple Ruru badge when you're done!  Go on, I dare ya!!!

Time to check out some labels ...

For those of you who haven't had time to check out the personalised label trail yet, I figured I would help you out ... by writing a weekly 'featured label' blog post you can check out from the comfort of your desk!

Our inaugural 'label of the week' belongs to Paula Matheson, our trusty Pictorial Collection Volunteer.  Not only did she write a label but she also acted as a guinea pig by testing the public scavenger hunts before the launch on Saturday 22 January.

Paula's chosen object was dear to her heart - the giant portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on display in the Taranaki Research Centre was painted by her great grandfather!  So here's a picture of her inspiration:

PA2007.244 - Jack Wood, "N.P.  1953.  Royal Visit" (1953)

And here's her fantastic label (if you can't read it just click on the image and it will expand in size):

Paula's label also features in the blue I Digress ... on the mysteries of Puke Ariki scavenger hunt.  Her section of the hunt offers people the chance to muse on the question 'where would you take the Queen if she visited again and why?'  One scavenger hunter responded with the following comment: "To Pukekura Park to see the lights and enjoy the music - and maybe a boat ride or an ice cream!"  I'm sure Queenie would love a trip to Pukekura Park!!!

In case you are wondering how many labels are where, here's a rundown to make exploring the label trail easier:

Taranaki Naturally gallery - 4 labels
Takapou Whariki gallery - 5 labels
Taranaki Life gallery - 18 labels
Taranaki Research Centre - 1 label
Level 1, Library - 2 labels
Ground floor, Library - 1 label
Discover It! - 3 labels

If you want to see more labels in your favourite area of Puke Ariki, we'll be inviting you to make contributions to a second round of labels in March.  So start hunting out your favourite objects now!

LAUNCH TIME!

Finally, launch day is (was, last Thursday!) here!!!  The staff launch of the label trail was a spectacular success and the star(s) of the show were, of course, the labels themselves.  As you can see from Karen's efforts, they feature good yarns and they're certainly eye catching!

In response to the dentist's chair and drill in the 'Taranaki Life' gallery

Of course, the staff were also subjected to Kate and my cryptic clue writing efforts and turns out those clues were extra specially cryptic!  However, with a bit of help from some friends (ie. me running all over the building) everyone managed to finish their scavenger hunts in the end.  I'm not sure if the beer helped people in their quest to decipher the clues ...

Me running (so fast I'm blurry!) to assist the scavenger hunters

The kids seemed to have a grand old time ...

There were some great collaborative efforts and good cross-team brainstorming ...

Kate and I got some fantastic feedback from Thursday night's scavenger hunters ... and Friday was spent frantically simplifying the hunts for the public launch on Saturday!

However, all the hard work paid off ... over the weekend the Hosts, North Wing Volunteers, Jocelyn and I sent out HUNDREDS of scavenger hunters to explore the fabulous labels our talented staff had written.  A bit of awful weather helped us too!  The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive - parents are loving having something structured to do with their kids, people are exploring the galleries and library nooks as never before, they're enjoying the stories in the labels and, of course, everyone loves a good Ruru badge! 

We had one champion scavenger hunter on Saturday.  Phaeora Sims, a 9 year old from Hamilton, spent about three hours roaming around Puke Ariki on a quest to finish ALL FOUR scavenger hunts.  She was desperate to collect all those badges!  Here she is, proudly modelling her Ruru bounty:

So, another  M A S S I V E  thank you to the wonderful staff who wrote labels ... you've made this project a success!

Installation day

Never mind me being brought to my knees on Friday ... today we had Geoff on his knees in the name of the Ruru project as well!  Today was installation day and our label format was put to the test, both in terms of looks and how easy they would be to put up.  There were a few kinks (or should I say air bubbles) to be smoothed out and a few tight spots to get around:

However, all in all, they look FANTASTIC (if we do say so ourselves)!  The Ruru team are very excited to be able to finally share the labels with the staff and public.  Of course, the best way to explore the labels is through the I Digress ... scavenger hunts.  The staff hunts have just been completed and are ready and waiting for tomorrow night's fun and frivolity.

We just have to tweak our cryptic clues for the public launch on Saturday and we should be all set to start dishing out coloured Ruru badges to enthusiastic scavenger hunters!

SEE YOU THERE!

Launch day is nearly upon us!

Happy New Year everyone!

The launch of the personalised label trail is only days away and the Ruru folks are hard at work getting everything ready for Thursday 20 January.  

At this stage it's all about creating scavenger hunts!  Kate and I have been roaming the building, taking inspiration where we can and bending our brains as we attempt to create cryptic clues to keep you all entertained on the night.  By Friday the effort had me on my knees!!!

 
Don't forget that the public launch of the label trail will be on Saturday 22 January 2011 from 1-3pm (starting in the foyer of the museum building).  If you've got - or you know of - any kids who are bored with all this glorious summer weather (yeah right!) and want the chance to collect their very own Ruru badge, send them our way.  We'll have the scavenger hunts waiting!  That said, you don't have to be a kid to take up the challenge ...

We hope to see you on Thursday to help celebrate the efforts of the label writers, the scavenger hunt creaters and the Ruru revolutionaries.  Come along and show your support!