Virtual Scottish Emigration Museum looks to NZ!

Museums Galleries Scotland is establishing a Scottish Emigration Museum (SEM) and they need your help!

Representatives from Scottish Emigration Museum are making a special visit to New Zealand to explore collections and discuss the development of the Scottish Emigration Museum. This is a unique virtual resource which will offer a passionate account of the Scottish emigration story, drawing on material held in archives, libraries and museums in Scotland, and Diaspora countries.

National Services Te Paerangi (NSTP) approached Museums Galleries Scotland to indicate a keen interest in the SEM project. We see this as an opportunity to encourage collaboration among museums, libraries and archives in Scotland and New Zealand, at local, regional, and national levels.

Museums Galleries Scotland are delivering a presentation at INTERCOM2008 in November. As well, NSTP and representatives from the library, museum, and archive sectors have put in place five opportunities to meet the Scots visitors. Between 28 November and 10 December SEM engagement visits will be held in Auckland, Waipu, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. 

New Zealand institutions have already developed some Scots immigration-related material. The SEM project is a way of further realising the potential of their own material, whilst developing international partnerships, and sharing their material with a global Diaspora audience.

“Scotland and the Scottish are dear to the hearts of many New Zealanders, and it is a relationship and a heritage that we see reflected in many of the country's collections. National Services Te Paerangi is keen to explore opportunities for collaboration and information-sharing between galleries, libraries, archives, and museums in our respective countries,” said Tracy Puklowski, General Manager National Services Te Paerangi.

SEM is an opportunity for Scotland to present its emigration story to the world in an accurate and accessible way, celebrating a shared national identity and history with other key Diaspora countries. This will also raise the profile of collections in all the countries involved.

It will be the first time anything like this has been attempted by any country, and it is only possible due to the richness of the collections that exists on Scots, and their impact and contribution to the development of other countries. The promotion of this shared identity could also create shared Diaspora tourism benefits, as well as having the potential to build international partnerships between institutions in Scotland and New Zealand.

For more information about the SEM engagement visits, or to find out how you can be involved contact:
Tracy Puklowski, General Manager National Services Te Paerangi
Freephone 0508 678 743, or email tracyp@tepapa.govt.nz