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Needle on the Record - Dance Music in Tāmaki Makaurau, 1990s–2000s

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Revisit Auckland in the 1990s and early 2000s, when dance music culture in Aotearoa was finding its pulse. Warehouses, nightclubs, bush parties and late-night radio built a scene that was energetic, resourceful and distinctly local. Needle on the Record , a new podcast produced from long-form oral history interviews commissioned by Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, brings these stories to life. Created in support of the Encore! exhibition , the series adds vital voices to the history of gigs, venues, genres and music promotion. Interviewed by Emma Jean Kelly, five DJs and producers reflect on their experiences of a formative period in the evolution of dance music in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Growing up with the synthesiser pop of Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams, the reggae sounds of South Auckland, and early local hip hop such as Upper Hutt Posse, these artists carried diverse influences into the emerging club and rave culture. Together, their stories trace a network of people, places...
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The Going West collection: an Aotearoa literary legacy

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In this Heritage et AL Blog we feature guest writer James Littlewood. He reflects on his time working with the Going West Writers Festival Archive.  As a bonus to this piece listen to James in conversation with Sue Berman, as he plays favourites from the Festival in this Awekura podcast track: Ngā Pātaka Kōrero - Auckland Libraries · Going West: listening to the archive with James Littlewood Going West was – and is – the original literary festival, at least in Tāmaki Makaurau. Previously, the Wellington arts festival had a literary component and there was a book festival in Dunedin, so on our founding in 1996 Going West could be said to be the only lit fest north of the Rimutaka. It was directed by Murray Gray and produced by his partner Naomi McCleary , in her role as Arts Manager in the now sadly missed Waitākere City Council, under the arts-savvy mayoralty of Bob Harvey . “In those days”, Naomi once told me, “anything was possible”.      Murray Gray interviewing...
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African Voices: The Stories of the Lands oral history collection

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Celebrating African stories in Tāmaki Makaurau This month we celebrate the rich heritage and influence the African Diaspora has had, and continues to have, in Tāmaki Makaurau. You can learn about it and discover amazing stories with African Voices: The Stories of the Lands , our new oral history collection funded by the Creative Content initiative. Image from left to right: Mahad Yusuf, Tina Bonsu Maro, Boubacar Coulibaly, Dr Love Chile, Lema Shamamba. A community-led oral history project This project had a ground-up and holistic collaboration, genuine commitment and regional relationships. With the assistance of a Cultural Advisor, we discussed the idea and if the project would be beneficial for the community.  After aligning expectations and the project goal it was decided that only people born in Africa would be interviewed for this project. We chose people from different ethnicities and age groups. Trying to reflect the impacts they had in different areas. Stories from the...
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Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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Salvaging a hidden history: the Auckland Unemployed Workers Rights Centre Archive

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Written by Sue Bradford - John Stacpoole Scholar 2025 In February 1983 I was one of the organisers of a public meeting of over a hundred people at the Pitt St Methodist Church Hall in Auckland.  Called in the face of high and rising unemployment and the punitive treatment of beneficiaries, those present agreed to set up a new organisation, the Auckland Unemployed Workers Rights Centre (AUWRC).   Little did I know that I would spend much of the next 16 years of my life working with AUWRC, right up until the group’s decision to dissolve itself in July 1999.   Last year I was grateful to receive the Auckland Library Heritage Trust’s John Stacpoole scholarship.  This gave me the opportunity to sort and inventory a selection of AUWRC materials which I had managed to retrieve and store over the decades since our closure.  The completed archive will be accessioned by the Libraries’ Heritage Collections shortly.   The new archive presents a somewhat ...
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Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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Winstone Limited’s Formation and Growth

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The name Winstone Limited (Ltd) may be familiar to those who have grown up or lived in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. But what might not be realised is the extent to which Winstone Ltd fostered the city's development into what we see today. What started as a humble endeavour by two young brothers, attempting to make a living for themselves in the land of opportunity that was early colonial Auckland, created a legacy.   Whether it was in significant ways, such as earning the contract to demolish Point Britomart, reclaiming the land in Auckland’s foreshore, or the quarry outputs which provided the literal foundations for buildings, roads, and bridges across the city. Or in minor ways, such as providing the tile roofing for the University of Auckland Clocktower, Winstone Ltd has been an underlying but meaningful presence in Tāmaki Makaurau. Image: Office of W. Winstone, 1864. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19240327-50-03.  Early years of W & G Winstone William ...
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Lived Land: Tiritiri Matangi before the sanctuary

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Only a scenic 80-minute ferry ride from the heart of the Auckland CBD is Tiritiri Matangi Island. Sitting in the Hauraki Gulf just off the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, the island today is best known as a native bird sanctuary: a haven of birdsong, guided walks, and carefully restored bush. For many Aucklanders, Tiritiri Matangi represents a conservation success story.  Image: View from Tiritiri Matangi today.  Yet, this is a relatively recent understanding of the island’s story. Long before the island became a sanctuary, it was a lived and used landscape. Tiritiri Matangi has been shaped by human movement, conflict, labour, and law. A bastion of sedimentary rock, the island was fished, occupied, claimed, cleared, and transformed. The histories embedded in its land predate conservation by centuries. Māori occupation and use  As one of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf, Tiritiri Matangi holds deep significance in Māori history. Going so far as back to 1400 A.D., Tiritiri Matangi w...
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