Enjoy Reed Gallery exhibitions online

Since 2010 we have been creating virtual iterations of our physical exhibitions and the Heritage Collections team have put together this list of our favourites. Don’t stop there, though, take a look at them all.

Heritage Librarian Lorraine Johnston's personal favourite is Authors in Crime, curated by Margie Michael. Lorraine says, "With only a little bit of help from me, this exhibition takes us on a journey through NZ crime fiction, starting with Fergus Hume’s The Mystery of a Hansom Cab published in 1886. A must see for fans of crime fiction or New Zealand literature, or both."   

Here are some recommendations from the rest of the Heritage Team:

Alyce says: "My favourite exhibition is Plain to ornate: Bookbindings from the Reed Collection. It's such a quirky, clever twist on an exhibition of books to focus on their covers rather than the content within them. It almost feels like a fine art exhibition in the way it celebrates books as aesthetic objects. The exhibition also manages to showcase the impressive variety of genres and topics covered in the Reed collection, with items ranging from bibles to a book about pigeons." 

Shelley’s “favourite ever” exhibition so far is Meet you at the gardens: celebrating Dunedin Botanic Gardens, for two reasons. "Firstly," she says, "I remember the enthusiasm and dedication that Delyth Sunley and Cheryl Hamblyn who curated this exhibition brought to putting it together. Secondly the Botanic Gardens have a special place in my childhood memories, as we would often go on family outings there when I was a child – which is why I appear in one of the photos in the exhibition as a child at the gardens." 

Julian, Reed Rare Books Librarian and primary curator of our exhibitions series, says: "Unusually perhaps, I might have to pick A Heritage Christmas - certainly not the most intellectually stimulating show we have done, but it was colourful, nostalgic, diverse, light-heartedly entertaining, and offered some insight into Christmas and its history within a Kiwi context." 

As the principal exhibition photographer, Malcolm says: "It is a privilege to be able to handle the many fascinating and rare items that Reed amassed and donated to the citizens of Dunedin. One of the things I find most exciting is being able to hold a book or letter that contains an indexical trace to the past, a physical link to the famous authors that Reed collected. So my favourite exhibition is probably Signed & Inscribed : Association copies and their owners. Holding a book that has actually been handled and inscribed by Samuel Pepys or Charles Dickens is a strangely thrilling experience." 

Barbara says: "My pick from Reed Gallery exhibitions is definitely Tales from a Long Bright Land, probably because it was the first one I was involved in helping to curate, very exciting. But also because it showcases children's books which is such a rich vein of NZ creativity even to today. My favourite books from the exhibition are Yvonne Adams; The George and Albert Snowywhiskers series. (1950s) Case 23; The Pohutukawa Fairy books, Hutu and Kawa, by Avis Acres. So cute! Case 10. And finally The Three Brown Bears and the Manpower Man by Margaret Mathie Dunningham (Case 21). The irony is that case 21 was titled 'H is for Humour', and it is a funny book. However the Manpower Man of 1945 was of course someone who could tell the people of NZ where to go and work, an unprecedented power. A bit like now when we are being told to stay home and work from home! 

Gina’s choice is Signs and Symbols. "Many people are surprised to discover the various collections of centuries-old taonga held in our small city’s heritage institution", she says. "Signs and Symbols invites us to learn about the visual language of iconography by decoding the symbolism found in the exquisite illuminated manuscripts and early printed books held in the Alfred and Isabel Reed Collection."