Posters and Pou

Today was our last full day in sunny Hastings, and we hadn’t run out of things we wanted to see and do.  This afternoon we took a visit to the Hastings City Art Gallery, to view an interesting sounding exhibition about “Classic New Zealand Tourism Posters”.  And we weren’t disappointed, the collection of 50 posters produced between 1920s and 1960s promote the glamour of travel and tourist attractions.  In the age before TV and the Internet, posters on billboards,  in railway stations, and on buildings on towns throughout the country were the advertising of the time.  Posters showed the beauty spots of the country, and suggested how to get there with posters promoting rail and  the fledgling air services.  We sat and watched a film interviewing artists who had spent their early working years producing these works of art, before wandering around and checking out the colourful posters. 

Overview of the exhibition

Promoting train travel

Areas of interest to visit

As children growing up, Robin and I can both remember our respective  mothers talking about going to see the Centennial Exhibition in Wellington as young women, so it was interesting to see these posters.

Centennial Exhibition

There was “art in the park” outside too – a series of 18 pou (carved posts).  The timber used was gifted by Tuhoe tribe to 18 marae (meeting place) to create a representation of tupuna (ancestor).  Each post faces the marae it represents.  This is the first time that tupuna have been presented in a public place in this way in Hastings.

Some of the posts on display

It was a very interesting afternoon, with quite a kiwi flavour, and we were pleased that the warm summer sun had finally returned.  Our rellies had invited us around for a home cooked evening meal, which we gladly accepted.  And it was delicious – what could be nicer than a roast leg of lamb and all the trimmings, followed by chocolate roll and pavlova?  We had a lovely time catching up with all the news,  before saying our goodbyes, as we are departing in the morning.

BIL Dennis and big sister Kathleen