Hocken Collections Māori Archivist Rauhina Kohuwai-Banks (RKB) sat down with Curator of Photography, Anna Petersen (AP), to kōrero about A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa, an exhibition showcasing the history of photography in Aotearoa, now in its last week at the Hocken Gallery.   RKB      Tēnā koe Anna, thank you for sitting down to talk […]

Post researched and written by Amanda Mills, Curator Music and AV Collections October 2022 marked 50 years since the formation of Split Enz, one of the most significant bands to emerge from New Zealand, and one which launched the careers of Tim and Neil Finn, Phil Judd, Noel Crombie, and Eddie Rayner. Before the ‘Enz’, […]

Post researched and prepared by HUMS 301 Intern Rebecca White To commemorate the end of Dunedin Pride Month 2022 I thought it was fitting to highlight some of our LGBTQ+ holdings here at the Hocken and discuss past and present issues surrounding collection and availability of such archival materials. At the Hocken Archives we hold […]

Blog post researched and written by Kari Wilson-Allan, Collections Assistant – Archives Content warning: this blog post includes quotes of homophobic statements. Reader discretion is advised. It is also acknowledged that there are a multitude of gay communities, and other communities situated around sexuality and gender. However, during the era discussed in this post, the […]

Post researched and written by Amanda Mills. Curator Music and AV, and Katherine Milburn, Curator Ephemera. Kaleidoscope World: 40 Years of Flying Nun in Dunedin explores the Flying Nun scene in Dunedin – from the early origins with The Enemy through to the contemporary local music scene which looks beyond Flying Nun. The exhibition pulls […]

Post written by Collections Assistant Nick Austin It was the Hocken’s pleasure, and good fortune, to host the karakia whakatuwhera – opening blessing – for the exhibition Pōkai Whenua, Pōkai Moana by 2020-2021 Frances Hodgkins Fellow Bridget Reweti (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi), here in our gallery just prior to August’s lockdown. University of Otago Māori Chaplain […]

​Post by Anna Petersen, Curator Photographs These past twenty years have certainly proved a boon time for putting names to previously unidentified photographs of people and places.  As cultural institutions and private individuals all over the world continue to digitise their collections and create searchable databases, new information emerges on a daily basis that brings […]

Post researched and written by Andrew Lorey, Collections Assistant (Researcher Services) Things! They are everywhere! From the beds that we sleep in to the clothes that we wear to the keyboards that we touch, we interact with a greater number and diversity of things on a day-to-day basis than the number and diversity of people […]

Post researched and written by Nick Austin, a General Assistant at the Hocken. He was the 2012 Frances Hodgkins Fellow and presented the exhibition The Liquid Dossier (16 February – 13 April 2013) at the Hocken Gallery. Sitting and reading. These verbs take on a vocational significance at the Hocken; users of our material are called ‘readers’, after […]

Post researched and written by Amanda Mills, Curator Music and AV On Saturday, 26 May, Hocken hosted a public performance event to celebrate both Music Month, and some treasures of our sheet music collection. These are only a few of the gems in the collection, and items that deserve an airing to a contemporary audience. […]