Rainbow taonga at Te Papa (2019)

In a recorded interview at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa with interviewer Gareth Watkins, curator Stephanie Gibson discusses the museum's efforts to expand its LGBTI rainbow taonga (treasures) since 2016, with a focus on community partnership and inclusivity. The goal has been to collect items that represent a diverse array of experiences within the community, working with organizations such as Gender Minorities Aotearoa to document and preserve items like gender diversity posters and materials associated with the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Bill.

The collection process is described as organic and respectful, with an emphasis on gently fostering relationships with community groups rather than imposing the institution's presence. This reflects the museum's intention to form new friendships and work with grassroots organizations on inclusive terms that respect their autonomy and priorities.

The interview delves into different parts of the Rainbow collection acquired during the past three years. Items of note include a rugby ball from the first interprovincial gay rugby match in New Zealand, demonstrating how sports artifacts can challenge and enrich traditional narratives. Furthermore, personal objects from a young transgender man are highlighted, showing the intimacy and power of individual stories within the wider national context.

Gibson emphasizes the importance of the museum's digital presence through the Collections Online initiative, which allows for wider accessibility to the Rainbow collections for research and education, though it comes with challenges related to classification systems. The use of LGBTI tags and engagement in classification discussions are vital in ensuring the material is discoverable and reflective of the community's language and experiences.

The discussion also covers the acquisition process for new items, the museum's commitment to telling everyday as well as significant historical stories, and the ongoing effort to represent all aspects of New Zealand's diverse society. This includes the desire to collaborate with the community in making decisions that impact museum collections and acknowledging that they can only represent a fragment of the broader experiences out there.

This summary is created using Generative AI. Although it is based on the recording's transcription, it may contain errors or omissions. Click here to learn more about how this summary was created.

Stephanie Gibson

1990s, 2000s, 2010s, activism, advocate, alan bracegirdle, all blacks, aotearoa new zealand, archives, arts, badges, binary, births, deaths, marriages, and relationships registration act 2021, blogs, bullying, bullying prevention, carmen rupe, classification, collections online (te papa), conflict, crown, digitisation, diversity, diversity and inclusion, drew hadwen, embroidery, fa'afafine, fashion, frank lund, gender, gender diverse, gender minorities aotearoa (gma), getty vocabularies, grant robertson, heterosexuals unafraid of gays (hug), history, hiv / aids, homosexual law reform, homosexual law reform act (1986), homosexual law reform petition, hugh young, human rights, internet, intersectionality, intersex, jimmy d, johnny croskery, krazy knights (wellington rugby team), language, lesbian and gay archives of new zealand (laganz), lgbt, library of congress, lindah lepou, lynette townsend, me too movement, museum of new zealand te papa tongarewa, museums, new zealand aids foundation (nzaf), new zealand aids memorial quilt, non-binary, norman jones, photography, pink shirt day, pink triangle (symbol), posters, pride 101 (te papa, 2019), privilege, pronouns, rainbow community collections at te papa (document, 2018), rainbow heroes (auckland rugby team), rainbow youth, research, rugby, safe sex, safe space, sport, stephanie gibson, takatāpui, testosterone (t), thesaurus, time's up movement, transgender, transition, wellington, wellington pride festival (2019), will hansen, youth, zeitgeist

1970s, access, advice, anti discrimination, anxiety, audience, boxes, building, campaigns, change, clothing, community, connections, consent, conservative, conversation, courage, culture, desire, disability, discrimination, drag, economics, emotional, encouragement, events, exhibition, family, fear, feelings, friends, future, gay, guidance, hit, homophobic bullying, homosexual, homosexual law reform, hope, identity, imagery, individual, joe, knowledge, law, library, london, love, memorial, naming, opportunity, other, pacific, packers, people, petition, pink triangle badge, politics, power, priorities, proposal, queer, records, relationships, school, secondary school, social, social history, space, strategy, support, survivor, taonga, the other side, time, trans, trans man, visibility, walking, website, work, youth