Exhibition in Rongotai, New Zealand between September 1939-May 1940
The
New Zealand Centennial Exhibition
took place over six months from Wednesday 8 November 1939 until 4 May 1940. It celebrated one hundred years since the signing of the
Treaty of Waitangi
in 1840 and the subsequent mass
European
settlement of
New Zealand
. 2,641,043 (2.6 million) visitors attended the exhibition.
The
New Zealand Government
staged the exhibition with assistance from local government, New Zealand industry and the New Zealand public. The exhibition received support from the
United Kingdom
,
Australia
,
Canada
,
Fiji
and other Pacific islands who either constructed their own pavilions on site or had displays in one of the exhibition buildings.
Opening
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The exhibition was opened on 8 September 1939 by the
Governor-General
,
The Viscount Galway
and the
Mayor of Wellington
,
Thomas Hislop
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
Location
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The exhibition took for its site a location at
Rongotai
[5]
in
Wellington
,
Edmund Anscombe
designing the buildings and grounds in the
Art Deco
style. Construction began on 27 April 1939 by the firm Fletcher and Love Construction Companies and over 1,000 staff were employed in the process of building the exhibition. The exhibition grounds were just over 55 acres (220,000 m
2
) in size, with the main buildings accounting for around 14 acres (57,000 m
2
) of this.
Feature structures included:
- the Centennial Tower, the main focus of attention, standing 155 feet (47 m) tall and weighing 700 tons. This icon featured on many of the souvenirs celebrating the exhibition.
- a statue of a
Neriad
(a sea-woman on a seahorse) standing in the central fountain.
- the New Zealand Railways Department stand featuring a working model-railway constructed to scale and maintained by
Frank Roberts (model maker)
.
2,641,043 (2.6 million) visitors attended the exhibition.
[
citation needed
]
The last time an event of such a scale had been held was the
New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition
in 1925?26, when 3.2 million visitors were counted at the exhibition in
Dunedin
.
[6]
Anscombe had also been the architect for the Dunedin exhibition.
[6]
Photography
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In February 1938 tenders were invited by the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition Company Ltd for official photographer for the Exhibition. The submission of
Eileen Olive Deste
(1908?1986) included a testimonial from
John A. Lee
, under-secretary for housing in the
Labour
government, for a housing-exhibition project in the
Kirkcaldie and Stains
gallery in 1937. Deste won the exclusive right to photograph exhibits or any other object in the exhibition buildings or grounds, with a percentage of the gross takings from the sale of the photographs going to the Exhibition Company. The photography rights covered all aspects of the exhibition, from construction to closing. Deste flew above the site in a small plane to take aerial shots, a terrifying but exciting experience, as she later remembered. Deste also entered into an agreement with
Coulls Somerville Wilkie Limited
to supply photographs for publications and general souvenir material, and her photographs illustrate their
Pictorial souvenir of the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, 1939?1940
. Deste's stall in the General Exhibits Building sold photographs and postcards in black and white and colour. Much of the photography at the exhibition came from the camera of an employee, Neville d’Eresby (Des) Aickin, while Deste did the processing and printing at her studio.
[7]
New Zealand Potters
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In 1939-1940 potters
Olive Jones
and
Elizabeth Matheson
demonstrated and sold work at the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition for six months.
[8]
Post-exhibition war-time use
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Plans envisaged using the building only for six months and then dismantling it. But with New Zealand's ongoing participation in
World War II
(1939?1945), the
New Zealand Air Force
used the site and some buildings until the end of the war. In 1946 what remained was burnt to the ground.
[9]
See also
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Further reading
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]
- Appendices to the House of Representatives, Department of Industries and Commerce, 1941, H-44, pp 21?23.
- Bowron, G. 'A Brilliant Spectacle: the Centennial Exhibition Buildings', in John Wilson (ed.),
Zeal and Crusade: the Modern Movement in New Zealand
, Christchurch, 1997.
- New Zealand Centennial Exhibition 1939?40: Official Souvenir Catalogue
.
- New Zealand Centennial Exhibition Company Ltd archives, held by Wellington City Council Archives.
- Palethorpe, N.B.
Official history of the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition
, Wellington, 1939?1940. Wellington, 1940.
- Renwick, William (ed.),
Creating a National Spirit: Celebrating New Zealand's Centennial
. Victoria University Press. Published April 2005.
ISBN
0-86473-475-1
References
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External links
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