AUCKLAND WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM

David Reeves

Director

David leads the team of curators, collection managers, conservators, librarians and other specialists who contribute their expertise across the wide range of disciplines and subjects represented in the collections.

Together, they are responsible for the acquisition, care, documentation and research of the 4.7 million taonga we hold in our collections as well as facilitating access to collections and knowledge through numerous channels online and in person.

David joined the Museum in January 2011 after a time at the Alexander Turnbull Library as Associate Chief Librarian, Research Access. David’s career also includes roles at the Auckland Art Gallery and at Te Papa managing logistics, storage and documentation of collections.

David brings a range of perspectives on the activities of libraries, museums, galleries and archives, with an interest in how they are responding to and utilising the digital environment.

David is also experienced in museum building design and has been involved in a number of building re-developments and collection relocation projects. He holds a Bachelor of Building Science from Victoria University of Wellington and Diplomas in Professional Photography and Museum Studies.

About AUCKLAND WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM

Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum is the oldest and one of the most significant museums in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Behind its stately architecture, today the Auckland Museum maintains its founding encyclopaedic educational mission and houses unrivalled collections of natural and human history of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific. Among these are the world’s leading collection of Māori taonga (treasures) and, reflecting Auckland’s place as the world’s largest Polynesian city, multiple collections of traditional and contemporary arts from throughout the Pacific region.

The Museum’s holdings of botanical, marine and land specimens, applied arts, military and of its documentary heritage, including prints, drawings and early photography, are amongst the most extensive in the southern hemisphere. Accounting for some 6 million objects and specimens in total, the collections are growing at pace, partly due to the acceleration of born-digital content.

The Auckland War Memorial Museum remains one of New Zealand’s most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory Hill, the remains of a dormant volcano, in the Auckland Domain.

All photos courtesy of the AUCKLAND WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM