A World War 1 exhibition at the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum continues to attract many visitors and has just been short-listed for two national museum awards, which are to be announced next week.
The exhibition, ''Dunedin's Great War'', has been named as one of four finalists in the ''Best Exhibition over $20,000'' section of the ServiceIQ New Zealand Museum Awards.
And ''Journey of the Otagos'', an accompanying 11-part film documentary made by museum curator and historian Sean Brosnahan and his cameraman son, Joseph, has been short-listed for the Best Museum Project award.
The national awards are offered in association with Museums Aotearoa, the national professional body for museums, which is holding its annual conference in Dunedin next week.
ServiceIQ is an industry training organisation for museums, tourism and other service sectors.
Funding support of $25,000 from the Lottery Grants Board and the Otago Settlers Association had made the film project possible, museum staff said.
The winners of the six overall awards will be announced at a dinner function at the museum next Thursday.
Museum visitor experience manager Kirsty Glengarry said the museum was delighted at making the finals twice and she had her ''fingers crossed'' for next week.
The World War 1 exhibition had clearly struck a chord with the public and the museum's education team had also worked ''incredibly hard'' to enable many visiting school groups to experience it, she said.
Overall museum visitor numbers had risen to 224,332 for the nine months ended March 31, from 203,888 in the previous period, and the exhibition's popularity had contributed significantly, museum officials said.
