Exhibitions

Bringing together some of the most moving and memorable letters from the Museum’s Documentary Heritage collections, this exhibition explores expressions of love, loss, and longing through a bold and contemporary  curatorial lens.

Letters, diaries, emails and messages can be much more than just transactions of information. They have the power to capture and retain emotion, documenting love and loss - a connection between two people at a particular point in time and space. New technologies allow us to communicate these emotions in more ways, but our need to tell people we love and miss them is timeless.

This exhibition is free for Aucklanders and Museum Members, donations invited from other New Zealand visitors. Included in international visitors admission charge

Award-winning Swanson photographer Olaf Petersen (1915-1994) spent a lifetime creating images of the outdoors, especially on the coast of West Auckland. Predominantly showcasing landscapes, Petersen’s images often include elements that cross the boundaries of nature and humanity, often including the presence of people in the frame. Seabirds and children feature on windswept sandhills and beaches, morning mists cling to trees as sunlight breaks through.

This exhibition is free for Aucklanders and Museum Members, donations invited from other New Zealand visitors. Included in international visitors admission charge