The Collections

Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery acquires objects for its collections through purchase and donation. Hundreds of people have given objects that they have owned, lived with, used and loved. Others have built up their own collections, enjoyed them through their lives and then given them to the Museum for future generations to enjoy and treasure. The result is an array of around 80,000 objects and archival material.

The collections of the Museum & Art Gallery are owned in trust by the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust for the benefit of the people of Hawke's Bay. Objects in the collection are an invaluable resource for enjoyment, education and exhibition. Museum & Art Gallery staff develop, document and maintain the collection to ensure that it is accessible to the public, tangata whenua, researchers, and other organisations.

The items in the care of Museum & Art Gallery reflect the history of the institution, the individuals involved, and changes in collecting interests in New Zealand since the mid-nineteenth century. The original members of the Athenaeum (one of the first museums opened in New Zealand in the nineteenth century) focused on collecting Maori and ethnographic objects along with natural history specimens. From 1936 the Museum pursued an open collection policy, accepting the majority of objects offered to the collections. This focus was to shift again in the 1950s to social history, as well as fine and applied arts. In recent years additions to the collection have included examples of textiles, clothing and design from the late-twentieth century.

Collection Enquiries and Donations

In order to prepare our collections for the redevelopment the collection will be closed for collection visits and enquiries from Monday 28 June 2010.

There will also be a moratorium on donations to the archive and collection until April 2011.

We thank you for your understanding.

For more information please contact Access Team Leader.

E-mail Sara Browne