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Heritage Rescue: a pop-up museum for Christchurch

09 Sep 2016

Five years after the devastating Christchurch earthquakes, the Heritage Rescue team created a pop-up museum showcasing amazing archaeological finds from the devastation.

Since the quakes more than 1200 buildings have been demolished in the central city... more than a quarter of them were built before 1900 and told the story of Christchurch's 150-year history.

Underground Overground Archeology is a local company that has spearheaded much of the archeology happening in and around Christchurch, collecting hundreds of thousands of objects. Getting kids into archeology and history is on every museum's wish list, so the Heritage Rescue team created a bright and engaging pop-up museum in a 20-foot shipping container.

The team weren’t allowed to drill, paint or alter the rented container but still had to create an accessible, fun and interactive display for children. Wooden packing pallets were used to form the back wall and display space while hands-on dig pits were created in the centre.

To give the inside back wall an underground/overground feel, the lower area was painted with a base coat of Resene Ameile (pinky rust) and roughly overcoated with Resene Mission Brown. For the overground sections, Resene Pearl Lusta, Resene Cougar and Resene Sandstone complemented the brighter colours painted behind the artefacts. Resene Anaglypta wallpaper and a faux brick wallpaper from the Resene Modern Living Range further defined the areas.

Because this exhibition was designed for kids, the overall design had to be eye-catching and exciting. Bright colours from the Resene KidzColour Range were used along with Resene Gypsy Queen (purple), Resene Freefall (sky blue) and Resene Spotlight (yellow). A mock long-drop toilet quickly became a favourite with the kids and used recycled weatherboards with a dry brushed paint effect in Resene Morning Glory (aqua) and Resene Bauhaus (mauve) for an aged look.

Resene Bright Red and Resene Blackboard Paint Black were used on the exterior of the container, with the eye-catching metallic Resene Gold Dust used on the top. Wood pallet steps were painted in Resene Kakapo (green) and Resene Juicy (orange) to allow smaller kids to clamber into the container with ease.

Here’s a glimpse of last Sunday’s programme, or to see more, see the episode here. For more heritage rescues, tune into to Choice TV this Sunday at 7.30pm.

 

Published: 09 Sep 2016