A landmark gallery for the Otago Museum
Opened in August 2002, Southern Land, Southern People is the landmark gallery of the Otago Museum in Dunedin. It portrays the uniqueness, diversity and dynamic character of the region to local communities. For visitors from afar it serves as a gateway to Southern New Zealand, informing them about the climate, the geology and the marine, terrestrial and human history of this area.
With a floor area of almost 1,200m2, Southern Land, Southern People is the largest long term gallery project ever undertaken by the Otago Museum. Space for it was created by the redevelopment of the Museum in recent years. Through its expansive vision, modern exhibition techniques, stunning audio visual media, and above all, its outstanding collection items, the new gallery integrates the region’s natural history and human history with style – informative, innovative and entertaining style. It is a celebration of the many wonders of Southern New Zealand. It opens eyes, awakens curiosity.
New Zealand south of the Waitaki River catchment is the gallery’s region of focus but there is an emphasis on Otago stories. Here is a region of superlatives and extremes – driest, wettest, coldest, highest, windiest, wildest, most remote. The gallery explains the origins of this challenging landscape and environment, how people discovered and explored it, how they utilised its natural resources, and how its challenging nature rubbed off on the people in the form of ‘southern character’.
Southern Land The themes include climate, geology and a history of life in Southern New Zealand as told through the fossil record. The climate story illustrates the influence of ocean currents and the globe-encircling West Wind Drift on Southern New Zealand’s weather patterns. Nearby, an area dedicated to southern geology covers elements such as the Dunedin Volcano, Alpine Fault (when is the next big rupture likely to occur?), and the origins of schist, gold and greenstone.
Flowing on from the geology exhibits, a unique collection of fossils describes the history of life in Southern New Zealand, starting with the earliest fossils (around 500 million years old) and working forward in time. There are two streams to this story – marine and terrestrial. The marine side reveals a saga of world significance, excavated from North Otago limestone – the evolution of whales, dolphins and penguins in the Southwest Pacific. Highlights on the terrestrial side include the presence of a Jurassic forest in the Catlins and the development less than 20 million years ago of an Everglades-like wetland environment, complete with crocodiles, in what is now Central Otago. A striking exhibit is New Zealand’s largest fossil, the Shag Point plesiosaur – a striking sea-serpent like creature.
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| Plesiosaur – found at Shag Point Photo source Otago Museum Click here for a larger version |
Supported by fossils drawn mainly from the collection at the University of Otago Geology Department and a series of commissioned reconstruction paintings, this history-of-life theme will amaze visitors. Alongside it are exhibits demonstrating the impacts of island isolation and the evolution of large size and flightlessness among New Zealand’s birds. The world’s most complete collections of moa skeletons is on display here, together with the subfossil remains of eagle, adzebill and other extinct fauna.
Southern People The themes begin with discovery, exploration and survival in the last habitable landmass discovered by humans. To survive in Southern New Zealand, people had to cope with a challenging climate and landscape, both highly variable. Richly illustrated panels and a superb array of objects illustrate early Maori lifestyles and the experience of the Europeans who followed, making maps and portraying the land through paintings and photography.
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| Maori figure at the entrance to the gallery Click here for a larger version Photo source Otago Museum |
The use of natural resources is a major theme. Resources of grass and gold dominated the early period of European settlement following exploitation of fur seals and flax. Sheep farmers were followed by waves of gold miners. Then came more intensive agriculture and the utilisation of resources such as clay and coal.
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| Human history display Click here for a larger version Photo source Otago Museum |
Big rivers, formidable mountains and jungle-like rainforest were among the physical challenges. Frontiers continue to unfold. Adventure tourism probes the limits of recreation, and wild places challenge eco-tourists. Throughout the gallery there is an evocation of southern character.
Landmarks Visitors to the gallery are greeted by a semi-circle of 10 landmarks that highlight the main journeys within the Gallery. Among them are the weathered totara fenceposts representing pastoralism and rangeland resources, a mounted takahe to illustrate flightlessness in a paradise for birds, and a wind-blasted rock or ventifact to demonstrate the power of the ‘Roaring Forties’ winds. The ceiling near the entrance portrays two spectacular phenomena of southern skies – the Southern Cross and Aurora Australis, the Southern Lights. A superb gallery, collection and scholarship rich, Southern Land, Southern People is one of New Zealand’s premier museum experiences!
Don’t leave Dunedin without a visit to Southern Land, Southern People – a true celebration of the southern soul!
Entry to Southern Land, Southern People is covered by the Museum entry donation.
Guided Tours available at 3 pm. $10 per person (Free to Otago residents bringing visitors).
