Unlike their Australian counterparts, New Zealand museums are not being pressured to focus on the nationalistic aspects of World War 1, Otago Museum director Ian Griffin says.
Dr Griffin made the comments at the Dunedin City Council's community and environment committee meeting yesterday where he presented the museum's quarterly report.
The report detailed a trip by director of marketing and development Caroline Cook to Brisbane to attend a Network of Australasian Museum Exhibitors meeting where funding for exhibitions marking the centenary of World War 1 was discussed.
The report said Australian museums commented that, at a federal level, exhibition developers were encouraged to focus on ''nationhood'' and the Anzac story, rather than the ''reality of war''.
Questioned by Cr Aaron Hawkins, Dr Griffin said there was no such pressure for Otago Museum.
''I've certainly seen no pressure like that over here. I think certainly all of the exhibitions that are being planned ... do reflect that the war was in many ways a devastating thing for humanity,'' he said.
