OTAGO MUSEUM

GOAL FOUR:
AN OUTWARD-LOOKING AND
INCLUSIVE CULTURE
FUTURE COLLABORATIONS
2014–2015 has been a great year of
collaboration for the Museum.
Two of the exhibitions scheduled for the
2015–2016 financial year, Who Cared? Otago
Nurses in WWI and Hākui: Women of Kāi Tahu,
have seen the Museum work closely with
external groups.
The Museum is collaborating with staff and
students at Otago Polytechnic School of Design
to create Who Cared? Otago Nurses in WWI.
The exhibition is based on the historical novel
Lives We Leave Behind by Dr Maxine Alterio.
Third year communication design students are
working to develop the exhibition as part of
their coursework, with support and guidance
from Museum staff.
Hākui: Women of Kāi Tahu is scheduled to
open in November 2015. The Museum has
consulted closely with rūnaka to guide the
development and execution of the exhibition
and related functions and programmes.
OTAGO MUSEUM PERFORMS WELL
IN NATIONAL SURVEY
The Otago Museum’s participation in the
Museums Aotearoa annual survey, which
provides the museum sector with better
information about its visitors, provides a
national benchmark that allows
the Museum to view its results in a wider
museum context.
Results for the Otago Museum showed that
in the 17–22 March survey period, visitor
satisfaction was at 87%, 4% higher than
the national average.
A diverse range of visitors attended the
Museum, with a particular skew towards
people with an undergraduate qualification
(21%), which corresponds to the
national data.
The 2015 survey showed the Museum is
reaching its target audience, with 49% of
visitors from Dunedin, a further 14% from
the Otago region, 12% from elsewhere in
New Zealand, and 26% from overseas.
SUPPORTING SCIENCE ENGAGEMENT
The Otago Community Trust continued its
support of the Museum with a $100,000 grant
towards the planetarium and stage one of the
Discovery World redevelopment. A particular
focus for the Trust is to support organisations
encouraging young people to look to
their futures.
The Discovery World redevelopment
plans to engage visitors through hands-on
interactives, immersive experiences and
learning opportunities.
The Barclay Trust gifted the Museum $45,000
to be used towards interactive exhibits within
this new centre for science engagement.
Nerissa Barber of the Dr Marjorie Barclay Trust
visited the Museum with her husband David
Morriss as part of a tour of Dunedin institutions
who benefit from the Trust’s generosity.
While at the Museum they attended a
media launch announcing the greenlighting
of the planetarium and Discovery World
redevelopment project, giving the trustees
an understanding of the Museum’s future.
The Dodd-Walls Centre for Quantum and
Photonic Technologies has appointed the
Museum to deliver their science outreach
programmes, contributing $65,000
to support an Outreach Coordinator and
develop science interactives that engage
people with light and physics.
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