Contemporary Pacific Collecting

Kia ora, Talofa lava, Kia Orana, Malo e lelei, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Bula vinaka, Namaste, Malo ni, Halo ola keta, Mauri, Fakatalofa atu and warm Pacific greetings.

As many previous posts in this blog and our History Pin site have shown Auckland Libraries is very active documenting Pacific history.

Ref: Auckland Council. Artwork by Fatu Feu'u at the Pacifica Living Arts Festival 2014. 11 November 2014. West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries. PAC-PLAF-2014-D-261.

A key role in documenting history is contemporary collecting. We have an active and targeted collecting program around Pacific events like the Pacifica Living Arts Festival. If you attended you would have seen our librarians walking around, taking photographs and talking to people. This content then gets added to Local History Online, which is a combined collection of local history indexes to images, community newspapers and oral histories. We are in the process of adding audio visual content as well as images, which we’re really excited about.

Ref: Bernard Gadd. Kava ceremony, Multicultural Education Day, Hillary College, 1973. (first published in the Hillary College Yearbook, 1973, p. 37. Manukau Libraries, Hillary College, OTA: II, 2 no. 6) Manukau's Journey, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries.

Te Kauroa – Future Directions is the long-term plan for Auckland Libraries and a key focus for us in the Heritage and Research team is that Auckland’s unique stories will be shared and celebrated. We will have a particular focus on Pacific communities to ensure that their stories are collected and preserved now and for future generations.

Ref: Auckland Council. Audience at the Pacifica Living Arts Festival 2010. 9 November 2010. West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries. PAC-PLAF-2010-D-003

Ref: Auckland Council. School children visit the Pacifica Arts Centre located at Corban Estate in Henderson, 2013, West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, PAC-PLAF-2013-D-111.

Ref: Auckland Council. Display board of children's tapa designs, 2013, West Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, PAC-PLAF-2013-D-012.

Last March we wrote about our Footprints database and how it can be browsed by themes like, ‘Pasifika’ and ‘Cultural Diversity’. This is a great place to look for Pacific related images from around South Auckland. These are a few examples from there: 

Ref: Drums of Melanesia, Manukau, 27 January 1990. Photograph reproduced by permission of Fairfax Media, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 03369.

Ref: Gerard Johnson. Celebrating the canopy, Otara, 1 November 1991. Photograph reproduced by permission of Fairfax Media, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 03577.

Ref: Jason Dorday. 'Parents appeal for lights', Manukau City Centre, June 1995. Photograph reproduced by permission of Fairfax Media, South Auckland Research Centre, Auckland Libraries, Footprints 03637.

If you have a collection of photographs or the like and think you may have something to add to the region’s memory, come in to your local research centre and have a chat.

Author: Andrew Henry