Exhibitions

Our Main Gallery                      

The Unofficial Gallery: Caricatures from Tasman Mill   

The current exhibition features a collection of artworks by Tasman contractor Herbie Pukeroa and mill employee Rob Morrison. Drawn on ‘pinched’ offcuts of pulp sheet (and one laminated paper), these pieces were never intended for a formal gallery. Instead, they formed an “unofficial gallery” within the Roll Shop and other departments—raw, funny, and deeply personal portraits that captured the essence of colleagues and sparked laughter on the workshop floor. Each stroke of the pen tells a story of shared jokes and enduring friendships. These candid portraits reveal the humanity and sense of community forged by the men and women who were the heart of one of New Zealand’s industrial giants.

Jellicoe Court

Working Style: Work and Leisure Wear from Tasman and Norske Skog

At 16-18 Jellicoe Court we are displaying in the windows material relating to a selection of Kawerau Museum’s collection of clothing and worn accessories from Tasman Pulp and Paper and Norske Skog. Both companies produced a diverse range of branded clothing, and Tasman and Norske Skog logos appeared on the heads, torsos, legs and wrists of mill employees and their families. As you might expect, much of this clothing was work wear, either for those doing manual jobs (overalls, raincoats, shorts) or office workers (shirts, ties and jackets). But perhaps more surprisingly, and this is especially true for Tasman Pulp and Paper, there was also a lot of clothing that falls into the category of leisure wear (baseball caps, jackets and jeans).  The majority of clothing from Tasman in the museum collection comes from the mid-1970s and 1980s, when the classic Tasman logo of lowercase letters (usually green) was in use. (This replaced the original logo of Tasman’s sailing ship, and then in turn was replaced when the mill became Fletcher Challenge Paper in the mid-1990s.) 

 For more information on our exhibitions please contact museum@kaweraudc.govt.nz