Nau mai ki te kawerongo o Haratua o Ngā Taonga — welcome to our May newsletter

This month we catch the Guitar Parade, show off our home movie collection and go behind the scenes on how we capture television. We've also supplied archival footage to events happening around the country.

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In this issue:

• The Guitar Parade
• Home movie magic
• From the TV airwaves to the vaults
• Working through the boxes

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• Ninety Mile Beach
• Events this month
• This Month in History
• News briefs

Music Month and the Guitar Parade

In late 1950s Christchurch, Guitar Parade concerts were a big deal. Maurice and Frances Liebert taught music and held sold-out performances. This Music Month read about how we acquired a collection of their wonderful recordings.

Home movie magic

Among film archives worldwide, Ngā Taonga is unusual for its large collection of home movies. Those recorded by Hilda Brodie Smith are a true standout. Read about her work and our digitisation of her films. 

From the TV airwaves to the vaults

In addition to film and sound, Ngā Taonga records thousands of television programmes a year and preserves them in the Archive. Go behind-the-scenes to learn how it works, why we capture what we do and what is in the collection.

Working through the boxes

Do you know what 'accessioning' means? It's a major part of archiving and it kept three staff busy last year as they worked through a backlog of material. Head into the vaults and learn a new 'Word of the Day'.

Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē – Ninety Mile Beach

He one roroa ki te tokerau, me ana kōrero maha. Ka roa ngā hōtaka pakipūmeka o Spectrum e pāho ana, ā, i mau hoki tēnei haere ki tahatai. He nui anō ā mātou taitara e pā ana ki Te Tai Tokerau.

It's a long, long beach up north and it has some stories to tell. Spectrum was a long-running radio documentary series and in this recording they take a trip on the beach. We also hold a large range of other material about Northland.

Events this month

We've partnered with organisations around the country to supply great archival content for plenty of events and screenings. Visit our Events page

• The Photival Photography Festival is in Wellington in May and includes a range of documentaries about prominent New Zealand photographers from our collection.

• DocEdge Documentary Film Festival returns with screenings in Auckland and Wellington. Check out our contributions to both the main programme and the educational DocEdge Schools.

• We're supporting The Dowse in Lower Hutt for their show Māori Moving Image: An Open Archive. We're also working with Pātaka in Porirua to support their show From the Shore. Both exhibitions explore Māori moving image and the legacies of indigenous filmmaking pioneers Barry Barclay and Merata Mita.

• We'll be going large with Auckland Live's Digital Stage. Located in Aotea Square, this big screen has an ever-changing selection of clips. Our current offering shows amazing footage of New Zealanders on holiday.

• Navigate and browse archival material from Ngā Taonga and others on the huge Discovery Wall at Tūranga Christchurch Library – it is the country's largest digital touchwall.

9 May 1907 — The first School Journal was published.
16 May 1998 — Farrah Palmer and the Black Ferns won the Rugby World Cup.
29 May 1953 — Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to climb Mt Everest.

• Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen is out for general release on Mother's Day, May 12. Director Hepi Mita works at Ngā Taonga and he used extensive archival material from our collection in this documentary.

• The New Zealand International Film Festival has appointed a new Director Kaiurungi, Marten Rabarts.

• Later this year the Wellington office of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is moving to Molesworth Street, into a space within the National Library building.