Assignment One FINAL

When researching a visual text such as a painting, film, etc, it is always important to clarify its context and background information. We simply cannot rely on what we already know or think we know; more research on the background and context must always be done to think critically about the author’s message. However in a world where networking is global, it results in a surplus of false information; how do we think critically about visual texts while still keeping to the facts?

McCoy, Glenn. A Political Cartoon about Hilary Clinton. Digital image. The Week. 2016. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

Mirzeoff had stated that seeing the world is “not about how we see it but what we make of what we see.” (Mirzoeff. 73) In other words, we put together information we have gathered from life experiences and past research to create a sense of understanding of our world. But how does this work in terms of research and contextualizing? What we already know or think we know is not enough to think critically about visual texts. For example; we understand current trends such as viral videos or political cartoons because they are current. Years later, they will be dated, and then eventually, incomprehensible. We need to research and fill in the background with conclusive, valid information rather than what we think we already know, to create an “awareness of the context in which these were designed, produced, used and understood, contribute to a fuller understanding and appreciation…” (Clarke. 24 – 25.) Looking at visual texts and their context with information we already know (without research) is never enough; there is always going to be context we do not understand, background information we need to fill in the gaps for. In an art and design practice; furthering our understanding is important in researching and contextualizing visual texts.

Top Trends for 2014, Ranked by Global Significance. Digital image. The Conversation. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

While we do research and contextualize visual text, the internet is the common go to for knowledge. However there is a surplus of false information out there in the net; this will hinder our own research and thinking critically about visual texts. According to The Conversation, News outlets of today often cannot compete with the spread of information by social media; be it Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, etc. This more than often results in high-profile mistakes when news outlets use information (or rather, misinformation) from social media. An example of a high profile mistake was during the Boston Marathon Bombing’s anniversary, 22-year-old Sunil Tripathi was accused of being a suspect by Reddit’s community. This led to the New York Post to publish his face and name on the front page; Tripathi had nothing to do with the bombings. When the spread of misformation is so vast and almost all-compassing, how can we research and contextualize visual texts? While we research, we need to confirm and validate information we gain from the internet before we use it in any way in our art and design practices. Without verified information and context, we risk the mistake of either spreading misinformation ourselves or misunderstanding the visual texts contexts.

In conclusion; in order to clarify the procedure of closely examining and thinking critically about visual text and information for art and design practices we need to gather verified and correct information to broaden our understanding of how we see our world, rather than relying on what we already know. This contributes to our fuller understanding and appreciation of visual texts, their contexts, and author’s message. In saying this, while we research background information to fill in the gaps, especially using the internet, we always need to verify our facts and information and be cautious of misinformation. This could result in misunderstanding the visual texts and their context we want to think critically about if not careful about the information we gather.

Resources:
Clarke, Michael “Language and Meaning”. Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing, 2007. Print
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. chapter 2: ”How We Think About Seeing”. How to See the World. London; Pelican, 2015. Print. 73
Vis, Farida. “Hard Evidence: How Does False Information Spread Online?” The Conversation. 06 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
Shontell, Alyson. “What It’s Like When Reddit Wrongly Accuses Your Loved One Of Murder.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 26 July 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

 

Draft II (Assignment One)

Explain why the process of looking closely and thinking critically about visual texts are important to the art and design practices.

Paraphrased essay topic: Clarify why the procedure of closely examining and thinking critically about visual information/text is important to the art and design practices.

 When researching a visual text such as a painting, film, etc, it is always important to clarify its context and background information. We simply cannot rely on what we already know or think we know; more research on the background and context must always be done to think critically about the author’s message. However in a world where networking is global, it results in a surplus of false information; how do we think critically about visual texts while still keeping to the facts?

 

McCoy, Glenn. A Political Cartoon about Hilary Clinton. Digital image. The Week. 2016. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

Mirzeoff had stated that seeing the world is “not about how we see it but what we make of what we see.” (Mirzoeff, Nicholas. Chapter 2. How We Think About Seeing. How to See the World. 73) In other words, we put together information we have gathered from life experiences and past research to create a sense of understanding of our world. But how does this work in terms of research and contextualizing? What we already know or think we know is not enough to think critically about visual texts. For example; we understand current trends such as viral videos or political cartoons because they are current. Years later, they will be dated, and then eventually, incomprehensible. We need to research and fill in the background with conclusive, valid information rather than what we think we already know, to create an “awareness of the context in which these were designed, produced, used and understood, contribute to a fuller understanding and appreciation…” (Clarke, Michael. “Language and Meaning.” Verbalizing the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing, 2007. 24 – 25. Print.) Looking at visual texts and their context with information we already know (without research) is never enough; there is always going to be context we do not understand, background information we need to fill in the gaps for. In an art and design practice; furthering our understanding is important in researching and contextualizing visual texts.

 

Top Trends for 2014, Ranked by Global Significance. Digital image. The Conversation. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

While we do research and contextualize visual text, the internet is the common go to for knowledge. However there is a surplus of false information out there in the net; this will hinder our own research and thinking critically about visual texts. According to The Conversation, News outlets of today often cannot compete with the spread of information by social media; be it Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, etc. This more than often results in high profile mistakes when news outlets use information (or rather, misinformation) from social media. An example of a high profile mistake was during the Boston Marathon Bombing’s anniversary, 22 year old Sunil Tripathi was accused of being a suspect by Reddit’s community. This led to the New York Post to publish his face and name on the front page; Tripathi had nothing to do with the bombings. When the spread of misformation is so vast and almost all compassing, how can we research and contextualize visual texts? While we research, we need to confirm and validate information we gain from the internet before we use it in any way in our art and design practices. Without verified information and context we risk the mistake of either spreading misinformation ourselves or misunderstanding the visual texts contexts.

In conclusion; in order to clarify the procedure of closely examining and thinking critically about visual text and information for art and design practices we need to gather verified and correct information to broaden our understanding of how we see our world, rather than relying on what we already know. This contributes to our fuller understanding and appreciation of visual texts, their contexts and author’s message. In saying this, while we research background information to fill in the gaps, especially using the internet, we always need to verify our facts and information, and be cautious of misinformation. This could result in misunderstanding the visual texts and their context we want to think critically about if not careful about the information we gather.

Resources:
Clarke, Michael “Language and Meaning”. Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing, 2007. Print
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. hapter 2: ”How We Think About Seeing”. How to See the World. London; Pelican, 2015. Print. 73
Vis, Farida. “Hard Evidence: How Does False Information Spread Online?” The Conversation. 06 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
Shontell, Alyson. “What It’s Like When Reddit Wrongly Accuses Your Loved One Of Murder.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 26 July 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

Draft 1 (Assignment One)

Assignment one topic: “Explain why the process of looking closely and thinking critically about visual texts are important to art and design practices.”

My key arguments:
What we already know or think we know isn’t enough and always needs further research or context.
Because our network is global, there is a surplus of false information meaning we need to make our own investigation.

 Brainstorm of relevant information

Introduction (Mirzoeff)

• Mass media = Universal Medium
• Global networking is there to create, send and view images of all kinds from photographs, videos, art and animation.
• Our world is now visual: media such as photographs are now our way of seeing the world.
• Visual Culture involves things we see, the mental model we all have of how to see and what we can do as a result; “How do we see the world?”
• It involves how to see the world in a time of dynamic change and vastly expanded quantities of imagery, implying many different points of views. It is not the same world like five years ago.
• Change in one place matters everywhere else in the world.
• There is a new “us” on the internet and using the internet, that is different from any “us” that print culture or media culture has seen before.
• Anthropologist Benedict Anderson described “imagined communities” created by print culture so that readers of a specific newspaper world come and feel they had something in common.

Chapter 2 (Mirzoeff)

• Modern visual technology is now a part of the learning process.
• 2006 study from University of Rochester showed that playing video games improved both peripheral and central visual perception. There has been improved hand-eye co-ordination noted. Visual games help us see better. (Not sure if this is going to be relevant later..)
• Probabilistic Influence: Decisions we make based on incomplete information, such as choices made while driving.
• We put together an understanding of the world that makes sense from what we already know or what we think we know.

Visualizing the Visual (Michael Clarke)

• We constantly verbalize our visual experiences; a substantial part of our conversations with others is taken up by our need to give some idea or impression of people, things, places, etc they had not seen for themselves.
• Culture of visual communication
• Still need to articulate in words our response to visual culture by naming, describing, contextualizing, analyzing, interpreting and evaluating,

Reading Texts

• Context is the who, what, where, when and why that surrounds every word, image or artifact. How does it connect to the world, both past and present.
• We understand stuff like viral videos, political cartoons and such because they are current. Years later, they will seem dated and then decades later it will be incomprehensible unless there’s background information; hence the need for research.

The Conversation (Hard Evidence: How does false information spread online?)

• As of 2014, the World Economic Forum had reported that one of the top ten trends was the concern over rapid spread of misinformation online, specifically social media’s role in this problem.
• More than ever, news organizations focus more on correct information rather than breaking news. This is the result of high profile mistakes within news outlets that used social media information.
• An example of a high profile mistake was during the anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombings, information posted onto the website Reddit led to two suspect images being printed on its front page. These people had nothing to do with the bombings.
• Time consuming verification practices makes it near impossible for news outlets to compete with social media; online verification is now increasingly important if it allows for reporting of online information to be factually correct.
• The 2013 internet survey has shown that trust in the reliability of online information has changed little among British internet users of the past ten years. In fact internet users identify the internet as the most reliable source of information over radio and television (over non internet users).
• The author of the survey suggests that “This stability suggests that users have learnt to what extent they can trust information online. In this light, we can see that people have a learned level of skepticism about information that can be found online, which is contrary to many expectations of people being unduly influenced by misinformation distributed online.”

Resources:

Clarke, Michael “Language and Meaning”. Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne, Switzerland: AVA Publishing, 2007. Print
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. “Introduction”. Chapter 2: “”How We Think About Seeing”. How to See the World. London; Pelican, 2015. Print.
Ruszkiewicz, John J., Daniel Anderson, and Christy Friend. “Reading Texts.” Beyond Words: Cultural Texts for Readings amd Writing. 3rd Ed. Boston: Pearson, c2012. Print
Vis, Farida. “Hard Evidence: How Does False Information Spread Online?” The Conversation. 06 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
Dutton, W.H. and Blank, G., with Groselj, D. (2013) Cultures of the Internet: The Internet in Britain. Oxford Internet Survey 2013. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.

Reading Comprehension: The Author’s Voice

Today I did the reading for “Critical Thinking.” Beginning University: Thinking, Researching, and Writing for Success by Andrew Wallace, Tony Schirato and Phillippa Bright.
The text was easy enough to read, has an informal yet direct tone; it is as if I am talking to a tutor or lecturer I already know and that is comforting. A lot of the pronouns they use in the text are you; the text is speaking directly to me to think more critically rather than do surface learning. As I had said before; it is as if a tutor or lecture I am familiar with is talking to me directly.
The author positions themselves as an adviser, tutor and educator; constantly saying “you”, directly to the reader and advising us to broaden our thinking and explaining to us what critical thinking is.
The direct but informal tone, the constant use of the pronoun “you” and that sense of teaching/advising draws my attention more as a reader. I feel like the author had written this for me, or someone of my age group, thus making it easier of them to reach out to us. It is easy to read/comprehend, and despite there being a lot of information, it doesn’t feel like it is being jammed down my throat (Like I feel some lessons do).
I did enjoy reading the text; I feel like I have understood what critical thinking is to a more advanced level (if there is such a thing) and learnt other terms or “branches” of critical thinking like Creative Thinking, Reasoning, Evaluating, etc.

Written Response: Why context is important to looking and thinking critically about a visual text

Too often we will encounter texts or concepts we do not understand and therefore need to find a context for it in order to properly understand it. Context is the “who, what, where, when and why that surround every word, image or artifact.” (Annals, Alison, Abby Cunnane and Sam Cunnane. “Working with Images and Ideas”, Saying What We See: How to Write and Talk about Art. North Shore, N.Z.: Pearson Ed. N.Z., 2009 15 – 39. Print).
Understanding the context and critically thinking go hand and hand; we have to critically engage the text and therefore consider the creators ideas/concepts.
For example we will encounter a painting/work of art from the 16^th century; we as students could be doing an essay or a response to this. Questions we have to ask to find out the context are:

• When was it made?
• What was going on that time period? What were the socio-political and religious stances at the time?
• What were the trends, attitudes and fashion?
• Does this work respond to a specific event?
• What were its intended audience and its reaction at the time?

Jean-Honore Fragonard. The Swing. 1767. Oil on Canvas. Wallace Collection. London.

Jean-Honore Fragonard, an 18^th century artist, had done a painting called “The Swing” in 1767; unknowingly to anyone who first sees the work, it is laden with sexual connotations and context. At first it looks like an innocent painting but it actually depicts an affair. Enlightenment philosophers at the time targeted this particular painting due to its frivolity and demanded more noble depictions of man.
However not a lot of people, unless they do art history, will pick up the context at first glance; in fact context is most noticed when missed. This is the same of all visual texts; at its debut, it would’ve been understood because it was current at the time. But years will pass and the context will become incomprehensible unless there is background information, like the Swing painting.
Another important thing about context is that it will be from someone from another worldview and everyone would see it differently. People have different life experiences and come from different backgrounds and as such, will respond differently to visual text. We will all find different things others will not see, react to them differently and they will shape our responses. It’s all a matter of seeing.

Resources:
Ruszkiewicz et al. “Reading Texts:. Beyond Words: Cultural Texts for Reading and Writing. 3^rd Ed. Boston: Pearson, c2012. 9 – 39. Print.

Glossary

Perspective: A way of seeing things; how you or someone else sees them. For example if you look at the world from someone’s eyes, you see through their eyes. In drawing this could mean a sense of depth and distance.

Visual: Relating to seeing or to the eyes. Attained and maintained by sight, producing a mental image or relating to or employing visual aids. For example, film is a visual medium.

Visual Culture: An aspect of culture expressed through visual images. It is a created or an observed representation of our world; Visual culture can be represented by paintings, advertisements, comics, and any other medium crucial to the visual component.

Visual Text: Uses a combination of visual features (photographs, stills and graphics) and verbal features like words, dialogue and language features to get a message across to its target/intended audience. Common forms of visual texts are film, television, radio, advertising, etc.

Visualizing: To recall or form a mental image of something that is incapable of being viewed at that moment or not visible.

 Omnipresent: Always there; widely spread or encountered or present everywhere at the same time. This is probably best exemplified by the likes of viral videos or by the omnipresence of the Christian God.

Globalization: A worldwide movement towards economical, financial, trade and communications integration. It implies the opening of local and nationalistic perspectives to a boarder outlook of an interconnected world with a free transfer of capital, goods and services across frontiers.

Contextualizing: To think or provide information about the situation in which something happens. To place a world or place into context; context means certain words used with a certain word or phrase that help understand its meaning. It is the who, what, where, when and why that surround every word, image or artifact.

Paraphrasing: To express the meaning of (something written or spoken) in different words to achieve greater clarity. It is essentially rewording a statement.

Naming: A word or a combination of words by which a person, place or a thing is designated, called or known by.

Analyzing: To examine something in detail, mainly to explain and interpret it. It is to separate and entity or a material into bite sized parts or elements; to determine the essential elements or features. Examining key features, causes and possible results, etc.

Describing: To give a detail account of; to tell, depict in written or spoken words. This can also mean to represent by a picture or a figure.

Tone: Is the texts expressive voice, the mood it suggests.

Topic Sentence: Introduces the main idea of the paragraph. Usually the first sentence will the the topic sentence.

Syntax: The arrangement of words in a sentence.

Selfie: A photograph that someone takes of oneself; typically with a smartphone or a webcam and then uploaded into social media.

Self Portrait: A representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, sculpted or photographed by that artist.

The Artist as the Hero: Mirzoeff constantly stresses in Chapter 1 of the concept of the Artist becoming a hero. In this sense, the artist is capable of creating an event and portraying themselves on how they want to be seen as by others.

 The Male Gaze: A term coined by feminist, Laura Mulvey; the expression refers to the way the visual arts such as cinema is structured and has a dominant masculine view. It describes visual cultures tendency to depict the world and women in a masculine point of view.

Performance: In Mirzoeff’s chapter, he uses scholar Richard Schecner’s definition of Performance as a “Twice-performed Behaviour”. According to Schecner, all forms of human activity are a performance, consisting of actions we have taken in the past to create a new whole. Performance might be an artwork, a barber cutting hair or a chef cooking a dish. This also applies to a person’s performance on gender, race, and sexuality in everyday life.

Site II Object: Deed of Sale to Charles de Thierry

Deed of Sale. Letter to Charles De Thierry. 1822. MS. Archives New Zealand, Wellington.

This is a Deed of Sale addressed to the Baron Charles de Thierry. It’s a large A1 parchment with ink writing and calligraphy. I imagine it was written with a quill and ink with a flourish. Again, the technology to view and make this isn’t complicated. They possibly dusted sand over the ink to quickly dry it off.
It was made in August 7^th, 1822, made and signed by three native residents and signed witnesses. The document was made in the Hokianga District, North of New Zealand. This deed was as a legal document that sets out and formalizes the terms of the purchase. It was made for the purchaser, Baron Charles de Thierry, who had purchased 40,000 acres of land. It was used for de Thierry and any other legal representatives he had at the time. It is now displayed in Archives New Zealand.
It’s intended audience was for the New Zealand government (I would imagine, not too sure), the Foreign office in London and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris.
The text displayed near the document says:
Deed of Sales to Charles de Thierry, 1822,
This is Deed of Sale is one of the oldest documents in our collection. “Baron” Charles de Thierry was a French born businessman whose eccentric behavior was one factor to British consolidation of Aotearoa New Zealand Through his friend and missionary Thomas Kendall; he claimed to have purchased a large block of land at Hokianga from Muriwai, Patuone and Tamati Waka Nene. According to this deed, 40,000 acres were bought with 36 axes and includes the tohu (sign or mark) of the rangatira. The sale was later repudiated, but de Thierry said he was coming to set up a sovereign state on the land. This was one reason for further British intervention.
Other people might look at this with fascination and amusement? I can’t really say for other people for a document like this but personally I think the whole sale was a sham. I mean who buys that much land for 36 axes?! I don’t think the locals didn’t quite understood what they were giving up at the time.
As the above text had said, this is one of the oldest documents the Archives house, hence why it is deemed important enough to keep. Another reason could be because this deed of sale is one of the major factors of British intervention in New Zealand and leads up to the Treaty of Waitangi.
Other items that were displayed near the document were a Map of the local Iwi, and Busby’s Address at the Adoption of Te Kara. These items are displayed together because they are all documents of some kind relating to the history of New Zealand and British intervention. These items were displayed near the Treaty of Waitangi; why it is so because these documents lead up to the signing of the Treaty.

Resources:
Turton, Hanson H. “An Epitome of Official Documents Relative to Native Affairs and Land Purchases in the North Island of New Zealand.” Deed of Purchase of the Hokianga District by Baron De Thierry. Victoria University of Wellington Library, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

 

Site I Object: A Child’s Drawing

Unknown Artist. Child’s Drawing. Unknown Year. Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, Wellington.

As the title suggests, this is a child’s drawing done by a Holocaust survivor. I imagine it would’ve been more vibrant when first drawn (or maybe not) but the colors and paper have faded with age. The subject matter is a drawing of a corner of Westerbork Concentration Camp. It looks like it was drawn on a child’s sketchbook, using coloring in pencils. The child must’ve used a ruler to make the buildings in the drawing straight. The “technologies” to make this drawing isn’t complicated; it’s a simple drawing done with coloring in pencils on a sketchbook.
It doesn’t say when it was made so I estimate around 1943 – 1945 and after. A Jewish child prisoner from Westerbork Concentration Camp had drawn this as it said on the description below. I don’t know where it was made, possibly in Europe.
Who uses it now are people who come into the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand to view it; how you view it is you open up one of the drawers in the exhibit. The drawing probably didn’t have an intended audience at first but now that it is archived in the centre, it’s intended audience is now viewers and people who wish to learn more about the Holocaust and the people who experienced it.
The text below it says:
A child’s drawing: This drawing of a corner of Westerbork is by a child prisoner of the Westerbork concentration camp.
Westerbork was the main Dutch transit camp, located northeast of the country. From it, prisoners were transported to Terezin and to two death camps in Poland: Auschwitz and Sobibor.
The child who survived, emigrated to New Zealand after the war and now lives in Palmerston North.

I imagine people’s attitude towards the drawing are sad, angry and remember that the good part of the victims during the Holocaust were children. My attitude is the same and it’s saddening to think the children who didn’t survive had lived such short lives only to suffer at the hands of Nazi Prosecution. Those who had survived have scars and horrible memories to carry for the rest of their lives.
This item is deemed important enough to be housed in the Holocaust Centre because it would be counted as a historical document; it documents the Westerbork Concentration Camp in the eyes of a child; of how he saw it. There are many other children’s drawings from the Holocaust in the centre.
The drawing is housed in a pull out drawer; displayed near it/on it was a display of the timeline of World War Two and the Holocaust, and some books. I think it sits in relation to the space because it is a documentation of the Concentration Camps (I believe there was a book of the history of Auschwitz nearby). It’s obviously inside the pull out drawer to preserve the drawing since it is so old.

Site Similarities!

The two sites I had researched for Creative Cultures were The Holocaust Centre of New Zealand and Archives New Zealand.
The two sites are very similar in a way that they relate back to New Zealand (The Holocaust Centre talking about the 20 Jewish Children who had taken refuge in New Zealand and The archives housing important documents that relate to the country’s history from the past 200 years).

An exhibit display from the Treaty of Waitangi

An exhibition about the Deckstons and their work

Both sites lay out their interior and furniture quite the same; with exhibits allowing you to view the artifacts up close, have in-depth information about the artifacts nearby and chairs to sit on. I think most similar was that there was chairs a plenty that you can sit and read documents/books at your own leisure. But the Archives had beanbags so that was pretty cool.

Interior of the Holocaust Centre

Entrance of the reading room in the Archives

Website layouts and interfaces were very similar; they both had extensive online archives, informative about us pages (they both had listed out their purpose, mission, vision, etc). However I found the Holocaust Centre’s website easier to navigate and found things quite easily. The Archives website was a much bigger site and had a lot more features and information than I could handle (I didn’t even know what I was looking for in that site…)

Archives New Zealand Website

Holocaust Centre Website

Site II: Archives New Zealand

For site II, I went to Archives New Zealand; it is also known as Te Rua Mahara O te Kawanatanga in Maori. The archives are located on Mulgrove Street near government buildings such as the Parliament Building and the Wellington Railway Station. Archives New Zealand is responsible for housing government records; this includes regulation of information management in the public sector. I thought I would have trouble finding the building (myself being pretty bad at directions) but fortunately it didn’t take me long to see a large building with “ARCHIVES” on it. So I’d say it announced itself pretty boldly.

Plaques near the entrance

Stairway to reception

What do people – audiences, viewers, users, come here to do?
The main purpose of the building is the archiving of important government documents. Some of these documents are accessible for the public, such as marriage records from the 1800’s to the historical treaty of Waitangi. Other documents have restricted access and thus not accessible. I would imagine that the general public would come to the archives to view the Treaty of Waitangi as they have a museum like exhibit about the historic document; this is probably why there was a tour group near the entrance.
Government and civil workers would have a purpose of coming to the archives to view publicly restricted documents.

What kind of professional practices go on there?
Working within the Archives are people from various organizations and groups; these people can be family historians, academics, legal researchers, professional historians, and genealogists. They document the rights and entitlements and provide evidence of government activity.

Tour group meeting place

Does it display or exhibit “things” – what are these “things”? And for what purpose are they on exhibition, displayed, shelved, stored or archived?
The things that were publicly on display were some documents such as intention to marry forms from 1856 to 1881 and the famous treaty of Waitangi. The treaty of Waitangi, though a historical document, is still government property and for this reason, not displayed at Te Papa. The purpose of publicly displaying the treaty of Waitangi is to educate people on a pivotal part of New Zealand history and this is further illustrated by accompanying displays such as letters, pamphlets, maps and timelines.
The archives main purpose is to gather, store and protect a wide range of material such as original government documents, maps, paintings, photographs and films – this to ensure future generations can view and learn about the past and to preserve these important things.

Entrance to the Treaty of Waitangi Exhibit

Accompanying documents on display

What is its history?
In 1952, the Hope Gibbons building was destroyed by a fire in Central Wellington, causing the loss and severe damage of records such as public works, land surveys, labor and employment and more. In 1957 the Archives act was in place and thus creating the National Archives. Since February 2011 it has been part of the Department of Internal Affairs; however before that it was a separate government department. The Public Records Act of 2005 greatly expanded the role of the archives and the powers of the Chief Archivist. The organization now has a leadership role for record keeping throughout central and local government around New Zealand.

Is this Site staffed?
Yes.

Who works here? Who do you see? Who do you not see?
Government and civil officials/employee’s, archivists, and others I have mentioned on professional practices. I did see a few staff with key cards around their necks running around the building (I didn’t see many however), your typical receptionist near the entrance, and some others like me looking at public documents. In short; not a lot of people.

Floor plan within the elevatorr; most of those floors were restricted

Intention to marry forms

What do you get to see? What do you think might be behind the scenes?
There were reading rooms with cabinets of documents for public viewing, the treaty of Waitangi exhibit and walked past some meeting rooms on the 2nd floor but there wasn’t an awful lot to see. As expected from a government building, a lot of places were restricted such as some floors.  I would imagine the things that would go behind the scenes within the archives would be the constant reviewing, recording, and cataloguing of important documents. Because some of these documents are so old, they may not be viable for public display as they could decay; they are most probably hidden within the archives safe and protected.

A timeline displayed in the Treaty of Waitangi Exhibit

Would you want to come back here?
Personally I am sitting on a fence in this; no because access to the majority of the building was horribly restricted and I didn’t get to see an awful lot. Yes (maybe?) because I would like to have a more leisurely look at the Treaty of Waitangi; I was never interested in New Zealand history or the treaty. But the fact that the actual document was housed in the building intrigued me. I may visit sometime when I am in the area but not in a huge hurry.

What is the branding, advertising or promotional material: catalogues, wall texts, displays?
Near the entrance way was a display that would give first time visitors bite sized information about the Archives New Zealand as well as a link to their official website should they want more information. Nearby was a display with a map of Wellington and brochures of various art galleries to visit, such as Te Papa.

Display of the Archives history and purpose

Map of Wellington and brochures of art galleries and attractions

Does its online presence give you wider access to information about it, its people and/or what it displays, stores, exhibits or its history?
Absolutely! The archives website have an extensive about us page, contact page and 4 million records that can be viewed through an online catalogue. This is done with the help of Archway, an archival management system that also acts as an online finding aid. Some documents you can find in the online archives are, for example, the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition, that can be downloaded as a PDF.

What other institutions or public spaces or “things” is it connected to?
The archives have branches in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin.

 

Resources
Archives New Zealand. Department of Internal Affairs, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.