Canterbury Museum

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Modern facade of the Canterbury Museum

The Canterbury Museum is a museum located in the New Zealand city of Christchurch . It hosts internationally acclaimed exhibitions on Antarctica , contemporary costumes, New Zealand avifauna (including extinct species), insects, the history of the Maori-European conflicts in the Canterbury region , Asian ornamental art, and Canterbury's natural history. There is also a document center where research on the Canterbury families can be carried out. Today almost two million exhibits are kept in the museum.

history

Old photo of the museum (probably made between 1906 and 1910)

In December 1867, Julius von Haast's exhibits were opened to the public in the Provincial Council Building. As the exhibition space was insufficient for von Haast's large collection, there was a public appeal for donations to finance a museum. The rest of the money was raised through a grant from the state government. The opposite side of the Botanical Garden was chosen as the location for the construction of the new building. In 1869, the architect Benjamin Mountfort was commissioned to design the museum, which was completed in 1882. The first section of the building was opened in 1870 and consisted of a single room measuring 21.3 m × 10.6 m. The tour was supported by kauri wood columns. The facade was built from gray basalt from the Halswell quarry. In the period that followed, the museum was significantly changed. In 1872 a two-story wing was built in the Victorian-Gothic style. In 1876 a major addition was completed, facing what is now Rolleston Avenue. In 1882 the inner courtyard was roofed. Further restorations did not take place until 1958 when the facade facing Rolleston Avenue was expanded and a new wing was built next to Christ's College. In 1977 another extension was inaugurated by HRH Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh , and subsequently named the Roger Duff Wing in honor of Roger Duff , director of the museum between 1948 and 1978. This wing houses the museum's Antarctic exhibit.

Between 1987 and 1995 the museum was gradually expanded, renovated and refurbished in order to meet the earthquake standards. A four-storey wing, in which there is an exhibition courtyard for short and traveling exhibitions, was opened in 1995, on the 125th anniversary of the museum.

The museum was damaged in the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011 and could only be reopened after eight months of restoration work.

Directors of the museum

Web links

Coordinates: 43 ° 31 ′ 51 ″  S , 172 ° 37 ′ 38 ″  E