Cantabrians will have the chance to go behind-the-scenes at the Museum on free public tours of its temporary collection store in March, exploring 150 years of history in 60 minutes.
Visitors will get a sneak peek into the work of a museum and see some of the many treasures waiting in the wings, ready to be displayed in the redeveloped Museum.
Highlights include the 4.6-tonne blue whale skeleton, a collection of large pounamu boulders, and visitor favourites like the Sno-Cat that crossed Antarctica in the 1950s and the giant Irish elk skeleton. The tours will be hosted by Museum staff, including curators and experts, who will share insights into the collection and the Museum's work.
Canterbury Museum Tumuaki Matua | Director Anthony Wright says visitors often don’t appreciate that a museum is much more than a public attraction in a heritage building.
“The collection of 2.3 million objects is at the heart of everything we do. While we are out of Rolleston Avenue we continue to make this amazing collection accessible to the community at the Canterbury Museum Pop-Up, and through loans and public programmes in collaboration with libraries and other institutions in the city and surrounding districts.
“These special tours will give visitors a unique experience and direct access to a host of special and wonderful objects, many of which will be on display again in the redeveloped Museum. Tickets for these special tours are limited and I’d encourage people to book their space now to avoid disappointment.”
The tours come as the Museum calls on people to support its bid for additional capital funding from local authority funders and the Government to complete the construction stage of the redevelopment. Anthony says people can back the Museum by submitting their support for the extra funding through the Christchurch City Council’s consultation process, which opens tonight.
“We hope that everyone who loves the Museum will make a submission and support continued council and government investment so we can reopen the Museum on schedule in mid-2029.”
The free tours run from Saturday March 7 and are open to people 15 years.