Museums Aotearoa launches WONDER FULL, a nationwide campaign that will be on billboards, in digital formats and on social media.

A webpage, wonderfull.nz, has a map of Museums Aotearoa’s member organisations.

Chief Executive of Museums Aotearoa, Adele Fitzpatrick, says the campaign is designed to remind us of all the wonders to be discovered at museums and galleries.

“The purpose of the campaign is to encourage visitors to our museums and galleries and to remind us all why they’re important,” says Adele.  “Not only are they places that are filled with wonders but they fill our wonder. We want to entice people with this dual benefit of seeing and learning new things, as much as gaining new experiences for themselves.

“More than art, it’s art that provokes questions.

More than taonga, these treasures enrich us.

More than sculptures, these are objects that mould us.

“We’ve purposely used cropped images that would make people stop and wonder what it was about and how it related to the headline. They might wonder what the image is of, what’s happening and why we’ve used it. They are all beautiful with extraordinary detail, but what is the story behind it. Every item in a gallery and museum comes with a narrative, after all.”

Like many sectors and organisations, the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) were impacted by covid-19. Visitor numbers dropped, international tourists disappeared and revenue intake suffered.

“Museums and galleries are also places people come to socialise and connect with friends and families. We want visitors back in our places.”

Museums Aotearoa is the national member organisation supporting galleries, libraries, archives and museums of New Zealand.

Image credit: "George Carter, The death of Captain James Cook by the Indians of O, Why, ee one of the Sandwich Islands, Te Papa. 1992-0035-1708"