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.

Site I: Holocaust Centre of New Zealand

Today, on a lovely Sunday morning, I went to the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand; located on the Jewish Community Centre on Webb Street, Wellington, this museum of sorts shows the history of the Holocaust and Nazi Prosecution from World War II as well as show survivor testimonies. Just outside there is a flag/sign that shows the logo (human figures joining hands) and the name of the institution; it’s hard to miss.

Entrance

Flagship outside of institution

Why do you think this exists?
To tell the history of the Holocaust to New Zealanders, work and converse with us and mostly to remember those who had lost their lives or were affected by this horrible event. The Holocaust centre also exists to teach the new generation their history and to teach them that prejudice and oppression of anyone regardless of creed, ethnicity and religion is unacceptable and instead, that kind of diversity should be encouraged and celebrated.

Map showing the Jewish population before and after the war

A timeline of World War II and the Holocaust

What is its narrative and story?
How the centre is exhibited to tell a narrative, is that when you start looking, they have a timeline of the Holocaust displayed, as well as statistics and finally stories of people who didn’t live through to the end of the Holocaust and those who have survived. Those who survived tell stories of the aftermath and how they had lived and coped in New Zealand after escaping from Europe.

Survivors personal effects, one of them being a Star of David that labels them as Jews

What is its history?
The Holocaust Centre of New Zealand started off very small in 2005, originally called the Wellington Holocaust Research and Education Centre. Over the years the centre had expanded, bringing in experts from Te Papa to create the exhibition space and more elderly survivors wanted to tell their stories and preserve them for future generations.

Who was/is the target audiences?
The official website for the centre has forms for educators to bring in school children, so in that essence, as I have said before, that the Holocaust centre is for future generations to learn about its history and to ensure that a tragedy of this magnitude does not happen again. But it’s not for just school children but for every one of all ages, religions and ethnicity who want to learn about it too. I certainly learnt a lot from this visit and found it eye opening, heart wrenching and sad.

Clare Galambos-Winter, a violinist and holocaust survivor

Blanche Pross, one of the 20 children chosen by the Deskton’s to take refuge in New Zealand

Does it display or exhibit “things” – what are these things? And for what purpose are they on exhibition, display, shelved and achieved?
The Holocaust centre exhibits and displays books about the Holocaust, such as survivor’s stories, biographies, the histories of concentration camps and even children’s books about the subject. These books can be read by anyone visiting the exhibition and I daresay are one of the main stars of the show (also helps when there is chairs and tables to pop down and read at your own leisure).
They also exhibited survivor’s stories, timelines, maps and survivors effects to illustrate the history and stories of the Holocaust and to further educate the viewer.

What does it communicate about Aotearoa/New Zealand?
The exhibit features a story about the Deckstons, a Jewish couple originally from Russia, who helped 20 Jewish children and moved them to New Zealand, away from Nazi prosecution. As a result, the children had grown up, eventually had children of their own and the Jewish community in New Zealand flourished thanks to a help of a few.
The centre’s website had put under their mission and vision as:
Work and converse with all New Zealand Society, encourage respect for all diversities, and teach and encourage people to guard attempts to make any groups of mass prejudice.
New Zealand has been a culturally diverse community that includes people all over the world, and as a result that the face of the country itself has changed. I believe the Holocaust Centre’s beliefs and mission doesn’t just apply to Jewish people but to everyone living in New Zealand.

What items or objects do you see at the moment?
Plenty of books, chairs and artifacts.

Inside of the Holocaust Centre

What impression does it convey?
I thought the centre and exhibition was well put together and at the same time, due to the subject matter, it was heart wrenching and emotional. I think the feeling was enhanced by the exhibitions colour choice of sepia and greys; it felt like a memorial not too unlike of the war museum near Massey University.

Does it remind you of something else?
It reminds me of the National War Museum, Te Papa on a smaller scale and of course, any building, exhibitions, and memorials that pays tribute to victims of war (such as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum).

Would you want to come back here?
Yes; though it would not be someplace I would go to everyday, I thought it was more informative than a Wikipedia article of the same subject and it felt more personal and intimate. There were so many books that I was interested in reading such as the History of Auschwitz and collected drawings of children from the Holocaust. Maybe next time when I have the time.

Drawings from children in the Holocaust

To find out more about the Holocaust Centre, you can visit their website on the link below!
http://www.holocaustcentre.org.nz/