Nga Taonga celebrates new premises with a new show

Never before seen film of the 1931 Napier earthquake aftermath will go on show at the first exhibition Nga Taonga Sound & Vision is putting on at its new headquarters at the National Library in Wellington. Restoring the nitrate film by Whanganui man Thomas H. Whetton has been a massive undertaking for the team of experts, after it was offered to the film and audio archive in large piles of heavily corroded containers. Among the other highlights of the show Rust and Restoration is the oldest recording Nga Taonga holds of "God Defend New Zealand" being sung in te reo Maori. It was recorded at Hiruharama School near Ruatoria in 1939: Nga Taonga Sound & Vision only moved into the new premises on Monday. Lynn Freemen was shown around by Acting Chief Executive Honiana Love, and Kate Button, the Principal Project Manager Public Programmes. Rust and Restoration opens at the National Library in Wellington on the 11th of October.