The Tauranga Heritage Collection is celebrating turning 50 years old with a stunning photographic exhibition by Adrienne Martyn.

The exhibition, titled ‘Kaikauhoe Pounamu Taonga o Tauranga Moana' opened on Thursday night at the Kowhai Gallery in 11^th Ave.

Sponsored by Tauranga Peugeot and facilitated by Taonga Tauranga, the photos showcase greenstone treasures that have been carefully kept in storage as part of the Tauranga Heritage Collection.

Dean Flavell with artefacts from the Tauranga Heritage Collection

'Some years ago, Adrienne Martyn took some high-quality photos of the Tauranga Heritage Collection for us to share with the public,” says Dean Flavell, manager of the Tauranga Heritage Collection.

'She was drawn to the greenstone pieces we had stored and asked to photograph some of them. I told her the wonderful legend of how the greenstone journeyed to Aotearoa.”

As with its origins in the fluid space of time, Pounamu, formerly known as Te Tini o Poutini, were the slippery fish of Ngahue, who swum the great Pacific Ocean to flee their pursuers finding a short residence at Tuhua - Mayor Island.

Tauranga Moana tradition states that Poutini came into conflict with the local tribes of Ngati Tuhua and Ngati Hinehoanga and under the guidance of Ngahue found a permanent home in the Arahura River of the South Island West Coast, where they remain under the guardianship of Ngai Tahu.

'Everywhere the greenstone travelled, they left memories or stones and created fire to keep them warm,” says Dean.

Obsidian, representing Mayor Island next to greenstone on display at the Kowhai Gallery

Adrienne is a nationally acclaimed photographer whose work has been widely exhibited throughout NZ over the past 40 years. Her work is presented by major museum collections including Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of NZ, Auckland City Art Gallery and Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

'These images actually depict taonga pounamu – greenstone treasures – as they revealed themselves in a darkened storeroom,” says Adrienne. 'They may not, at first, be easy to discern.”

The images of the greenstone are caught in a rich inky blackness, evoking elements of dark water, with stone surfacing from the watery depths.

'This is our second exhibition with Tauranga's Heritage Collection,” says Binnie Brown from Taonga Tauranga. 'The first was at Easter on the stands along The Strand with a retrospective of the Tauranga Jazz Festival over all the years.”

Dean Flavell explaining the story of Te Tini o Poutini and Kaikauhoe

Brian Davies Heritage Fund

The Brian Davies Heritage Fund was also launched at the opening. Brian was a long-term volunteer at The Elms, a supporter of The Tauranga Historical Society and a passionate museum advocate.

Brian Davies at The Elms

'He died very tragically and he left wishes and wanted a fund started for a museum,” says Binnie. 'Brian was a guide at The Elms for years.”

A Matua resident, Brian Davies, age 85, was found deceased in Whakamarama in July, after being reported missing.

Brian's vision was for Tauranga to have an iconic museum in its historic precinct where the rich stories that spanned culture, whanau, heritage and time, could be told.

Brian Farthing launching the Brian Davies Heritage Fund

'The Elms asked Taonga Tauranga, which is now a Charitable Trust, to be the Kaitiaki of the Fund,” says Binne, 'and so it was launched last night.”

Brian's fund will be managed as a separate fund within the Taonga Tauranga Charitable Trust. Its purpose will be to support ongoing exhibition activity enabling the people of Tauranga and Western Bay to tell their stories; and as a community-based heritage strategy, supporting the work of the trust towards establishing heritage and cultural centres or museums for Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty.

Tony Daldin and Bruce Farthing at the launch of the Brian Davies Heritage Fund and opening of the exhibition

Tauranga's museum journey

Tauranga and Western Bay's museum journey started in 1873 with the first recorded museum collection on display at Mechanics Institute in Harington St. In 1881 disaster struck with the Institute and collection destroyed by fire.

In 1882, a new museum exhibition opened which included 100 Taonga from Captain Gilbert Mair. Following this the Mechanics Institute became a public library in 1906.

In 1938 the museum collection was put on display in the Tauranga Town Hall in Willow St, but in 1941 it had to be placed in a hidden location during World War 2.

A new museum opened on the corner of Durham and Hamilton St in 1969. The collection expanded at the Tauranga Historic Village and District Museum in 1975, but then the collection again went into storage in 1998. It has remained in storage since then. This year the Tauranga Heritage Collection turns 50.

Donations to the Brian Davies Heritage Fund qualify for the charitable donations tax rebate. Donors automatically become ‘Heritage Friends' within Taonga Tauranga for a period of 12 months with annual renewal options. More information is available on www.taongatauranga.net

The exhibition of Adrienne Martyn's photographs at the Kowhai Gallery will run from September 22 to November 2.

Fiona Keen and Dean Flavell, who both work with the Tauranga Heritage Collection

Fiona Sullivan, Kathryn Bluett and Buddy Mikaere