21 Feb 2021

170 wonders from the Alexander Turnbull Library

From Standing Room Only, 12:46 pm on 21 February 2021

From millions of items in the Alexander Turnbull Library, curators have chosen just 170 for a new exhibition to celebrate the institution's 100th birthday.

It's actually the 101st.  The Mīharo Wonder exhibition was delayed from last year due to the pandemic.

On show will be some tiny hand-sewn buttons created by prisoners on St Helena, ancient Sumerian tablets and a pocket-sized globe tracing James Cook's first voyage.

Alongside taonga from the collection is new artwork commissioned from Matthew McIntyre-Wilson, a collection of fishing nets he's made using traditional techniques.

Lynn Freeman spoke to Matthew, and to one of the show's curators, Fiona Oliver.  Fiona explains how she and Peter Ireland honed down the list from millions to fewer than two hundred for the exhibition.

The Mīharo Wonder exhibition opens at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington on Thursday, 25 February).