Heritage et AL

Ngako: The Collections Talk is a documentary film and podcast series showcasing taonga in Auckland Libraries’ heritage and research collections.  Explore the whole series in our current exhibition , on until 2 March 2024 at Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero, the Central City Library. This audio playlist contains all the episodes from Ngako: The Collections Podcast, where we explore items and stories from Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections. Wanderlust - the war years In this episode we find meaning and history in the Auckland Tramping Club’s newsletter Wanderlust.  Archivist Sharon Smith shares insights gleaned from reading the Wanderlust magazine in the period of publication during the Second World War.  We are also joined by current Auckland Tramping Club members, Ian, Anna and Dennis, on the Club’s programme of tramps and their preparation for the upcoming Club centenary celebrations. Listen to the track here . Ava, kava, kawa In this episode we explore the world of ava...

One of the country’s earliest arts journals,  Art in New Zealand,  will be digitised and made freely available to search on Papers Past . The seventy issues of Art in New Zealand (1928–1946) and its successor the Year Book (1945-1951) are treasure for Aotearoa art history researchers and enthusiasts. Image: Cover of Art in New Zealand , December 1942. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections. Established by publisher Harry Tombs, Art in New Zealand aimed to improve standards of art criticism, generate discussion and improve on the art notices in local newspapers that were “more kindly than constructively critical. They spread praise lavishly, and dispraise is a rarety... such notices impart no stimulus to an art that needs stimulating... They may merely narcoticise the artist into the belief that he has ‘arrived,’ or at least is ‘arriving’.” The editors also wanted to provide a forum that would help nurture art unique to New Zealand. “Glancing round annual exhibitions in the ...

In 1924, Auckland City Council began publishing the Municipal Record, to promote the progress of the “Queen City.” Inspired by publications abroad, and encouraged by central government to publish details of civic work, the magazine was launched. There were plans to publish quarterly, and it was distributed free of charge, with the hope that Aucklanders would take more of an interest in civic matters, and accord “a fuller measure of sympathy and understanding” to Council staff. Ref: Front cover of the Municipal Record, Vol. 1, No. 1, 15 March 1924. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections. The Record promoted Auckland as a pioneer town growing into a modern city. Editor Robert Hill wrote that people new to Auckland, whether from New Zealand or abroad, should make an effort to learn about their new city. “These people know little or nothing of the city and until they do, they cannot become imbued with that intense civic enthusiasm that is a characteristic of so many o...

In one part of the printed book collection of Sir George Grey Special Collections there is a section of books grouped by Private Press publisher name. Private Press books can be defined as books printed by hand, in limited editions, with as much emphasis on making an object of beauty as on reproducing a text. Private Press books are excellent sources of inspiration for artists and can be appreciated by anyone who admires carefully crafted things. Examples of books from some of the many Private Press publishers featured in the collection include exquisite first editions from Arts and Crafts era printers the Doves Press and Kelmscott Press, intricate book art from Flying Fish Press  and The Whittington Press , and a wide range of lovely books from New Zealand printers like The Holloway Press , Otakou Press ,  Puriri Press  and The Pear Tree Press. Alongside these fine books are journals that promote, review and critique the work of Private Presses and related in...

The School Journal (known prior to 1949 as the The New Zealand School Journal) has provided New Zealand material for New Zealand’s children since 1907 and is thought to be the longest-running children’s serial publication in the world. It publishes articles, plays, poems and stories - as well as photographs and illustrations. Ref: School Journal Display, Central Auckland Research Centre Many New Zealand artists have had their work in The School Journal and the Central Auckland Research Central is currently displaying journal covers from Colin McCahon, John Drawbridge, Evelyn Clouston, Roger Duvoisin, Michael Cox and Terence Taylor. Ref: School Journal Display, Central Auckland Research Centre