PARTE SUSTENTATORIA:

This   section   will   briefly   perform   a   general   observation   of   Te   Papa’s   GAP,   paying   reference   to   their   utilisation   of   the   space   before   moving   on   to   examine   the   Māori   collection   specifically.   Moreover,   it   will   highlight   a   number   of   issues,   questioning   the   level  of  institutional  buy-­‐in.  This  is  of  particular  importance  as  website  data  reveals  that   the  audience  that  visit  Te  Papa’s  GAP  represent  quite  a  different  demographic  to  their   own  websites.  Arguably  this  demographic  has  no  intention  of  ever  visiting  the  physical   museum.72   _{Thus,   away   from   institutional   websites   and   the   additional   context   they}   contain,   how   and   what   information   is   attached   to   each   object   becomes   particularly   important   as   the   sole   means   to   promote   a   good   understanding   of   an   object’s   significance.  

While   the   objects   selected   for   the   project   provide   a   reasonable   survey   of   Te   Papa’s   stores,   their   decision   to   exclude   any   work   produced   after   1970   states   it   is   far   from   representative.  Nonetheless,  the  collection  overall  is  unfortunately  riddled  with  errors,   inconsistencies  and  biases.  The  majority  of  the  objects  have  an  informative  description   of   varying   depths   attached.73   _{This   ensures   that   the   quarter   that   only   have   minimal}  

72  _{See  Appendix  two  for  detailed  exploration  of  this  point.}  

73  _{A  quarter  of  which  have  been  adapted  or  “cut  and  paste”  directly  from  Art  at  Te  Papa  (2009).}  

Although  this  was  necessarily  consistent  as  there  were  a  few  in  both  in  Art  at  Te  Papa  and  GAP   that  did  not  have  information  conveyed  from  one  to  the  other,  see  McCormack,  T.  A.  (c1940).   Poppies  [Watercolour,  40.0  x  24.8cm].  Wellington,  New  Zealand:  Museum  of  New  Zealand  Te   Papa  Tongarewa.  (1959-­‐0025-­‐5).  Retrieved  from  

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-­‐

classificational   information   standout.74   _{Furthermore,   excluding   the   formatting   and}   spelling  errors,  a  more  pro-­‐active  approach  would  have  noted  the  inconsistent  use  of   definitions  when  explaining  Māori  terms  as  well  as  the  irregular  use  of  diacritics  (e.g.  ā   ä  or  not  at  all).75  _{Overall  there  appears  to  have  been  little  if  any  follow-­‐up  of  Te  Papa’s}   presence  in  the  GAP.76    

The  use  of  hyperlinks  back  to  Te  Papa’s  own  webpages  for  each  object  were  also  not   used   to   their   full   effect.   Instead   Te   Papa   has   intentionally   replicated   the   information   from   its   own   website   to   the   GAP   (A.   Kingston,   personal   communication,   January   17,   2014).  The  duplication  of  information  whereby  failing  to  offer  anything  further  is  a  fault   that   a   number   of   institutions   in   the   GAP   had   succumbed   to   (Hart,   2011).   It   was   also   noted  that  women  only  represent  approximately  25%  of  the  collection,  with  none  after   1930.77    

That   said,   there   is   a   degree   of   supplementary   and   sticky   content   within   Te   Papa’s   GAP.78   _{This   included   multiple   images   and   a   small   number   have   hyperlinks   to   other}   sources   and   videos   attached,   providing   greater   content   and   context   for   the   user.  

Papa.  Wellington,  New  Zealand:  Te  Papa  Press,  p.  231.  Smith,  J.  R.,  after  West,  B.  (1773).  Mr   Banks  [Mezzotint,  61.1  x  37.8cm].  Wellington,  New  Zealand:  Museum  of  New  Zealand  Te  Papa   Tongarewa.  (2005-­‐0027-­‐1).  Retrieved  from  http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-­‐ viewer/mr-­‐banks/qwGdsm-­‐J7isWoA?projectId=art-­‐project.  McAloon,  W.  (Ed.).  (2009).  Art  at  Te   Papa.  Wellington,  New  Zealand:  Te  Papa  Press,  p.  60.  

74  _{Principally  containing  information  such  as  medium,  material,  location,  subject  headings,}  

etcetera.  No  additional  or  contextualising  information.  This  minimal  approach  effects  works  by   Gordon  Walter  and  Gottfried  Lindauer  amongst  other  notables.  Interestingly,  as  one  views  the   collection  as  a  slide  show  in  the  default  sequence  the  information  provided  for  each  object   becomes  scarcer  as  you  get  into  the  last  quarter  of  the  collection.  From  this,  one  could   speculate  that  the  default  sequence  relates  to  the  order  to  which  items  where  placed  into  the   project.  If  this  is  the  case,  it  could  be  argued  that  Te  Papa’s  enthusiasm  begun  to  waver.  

75  _{Different  Iwi  do  write  te  reo  using  various  diacritic  marks  or  double  vowels  to  indicate}  

appropriate  pronunciation.  But  as  all  of  the  Māori  objects  have  largely  unknown  histories  it  is   difficult  to  attach  them  to  a  specific  iwi  and  their  preferred  means  of  writing  te  reo.  

76  _{There  are  several  basic  formatting  and  spelling  errors  dotted  throughout  (see  example  in}  

figure.  3.).  According  to  Adrian  Kingston,  Te  Papa  Digital  Collections  Senior  Analyst,  the  Te  Papa   project  team  were  responsible  for  the  uploading  of  their  own  images  and  inputting  the  

metadata  into  predefined  fields  (personal  communication,  January  17,  2014).  This  capability  has   remained  active  since  becoming  part  of  the  project.  

77  _{Over  the  net.  (2012,  April  10).  Te  Papa  and  Auckland  Art  Gallery  go  head  to  head  on  Google}  

[Web  log  message].  Retrieved  from  http://overthenet.blogspot.co.nz/2012/04/te-­‐papa-­‐and-­‐ auckland-­‐art-­‐gallery-­‐go.html    

78  _{Sticky  refers  to  website  content  that  holds  a  users  attention  or  entices  their  return  to  the  site}  

and  can  include  a  range  of  services  such  as  social  media  feeds,  built  in  games  and  exclusive   additional  material.  (Intergen,  2012;  Kominers,  2009).  This  type  of  sticky  content  is  not  possible   on  the  GAP  (at  least  not  yet)  but  the  inclusion  of  supplementary  images,  as  well  as  audio  and   video  media  is.  

Nevertheless,   taken   as   a   collective,   Te   Papa’s   GAP   lacks   of   over-­‐arching   vision   as   exemplified  through  its  Incohesion,  inconsistencies  and  errors.79