Whakatane Museum and Arts

Explore the environment, culture and history of the eastern Bay of Plenty. There is an important collection of Taonga Maori from the tribes tracing their descent from the Mataatua waka. The Te Kohika collection comprises examples from one of the most important swamp excavations in New Zealand. There are also archives and a research library.

This museum has been given an impressive facelift and been redeveloped into a multi-purpose municipal facility featuring a library, museum and research centre. It holds a large collection of Maori artefacts as well as photographs from early Whakatane. It's new design was by Irving Smith Architects, and basically involved enveloping the existing buildings within a new one, the process and effect being described as a virtual refrigeration of what is within. They even used real freezer panels, the same ones applied to packing sheds in the dairy, fruit and wine industries. It was so successful it won an NZIA award in 2019, and the 'Cool Store' nickname may stick. In another effort to keep the taonga safe, the floors have been raised in case of flooding.

Mainly an archives facility, the museum exhibition space is towards the front, and room has been created for the endless task of unpacking and sorting the masses of collections, which, due to the nature of the upgrade, did not need to be moved during construction.

The Whakatane Library and Exhibition Centre (Te Koputu a te whanga a Toi) is at Esplanade Mall, Kakahoroa Drive, also recently upcycled from an old Briscoes building.

Image Credit: Koenraad Kuiper