Maori Rock Art Centre planned for Timaru will enrich Timaru residents' knowledge of the Maori culture, Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Charitable Trust curator Amanda Symon says.
It was reported last week that Timaru District Holdings Ltd (TDHL) would invest $280,000 in Te Ana Whakairo, the company set up to construct and run the Maori Rock Art Centre.
TDHL's financial support for the Maori Rock Art Centre relied on the Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Charitable Trust finding a further $800,000 of funding.
The centre, expected to cost $2.6 million, will be built in the Timaru Landing Service building.
Speaking to The Courier, Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Charitable Trust curator Amanda Symon said Timaru was at present "quite limited" when it came to places people could learn about Maori culture.
"It will be a good place people can go and learn about it. It's accessible to everyone.
"They can meet Ngai Tahu people working there and get their story first-hand."
Rock art from the South Island would be displayed at the centre, some of which would hopefully come from museums in Auckland, Dunedin and Wanganui, where they had large Maori rock art collections, Ms Symon said.
"There will be actual pieces of rock art removed from rock-art work sites. We are also looking at loaning pieces of rock art from museums, but it's still a work in process. We have to identify what pieces we want and get approval from the museums to have them."
The centre will teach people about Maori rock art in a variety of ways, such as through short documentaries, life-size and 3D animations and holograms and audio-visual materials.
"It won't just be a static experience," Ms Symon said.
In 2004 the Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Charitable Trust came up with the idea of building a Maori Rock Art Centre in Timaru.
Over the past five years, the trust has been doing market research, planning the centre and fundraising.
"There has been a huge amount of work done. For $2.6 million - it takes a long time to raise that kind of money."
The centre would make the Timaru Maori community very proud, Ms Symon said.
"Maori have been creating rock art since they settled here around a thousand years ago, so there will be a huge sense of pride and ownership for them. They will be proud to have a positive and successful Maori-driven business somewhere that tells their story."
Ms Symon expected the centre would attract many visitors interested in the history of Maori culture in Canterbury.
"They will learn more about Ngai Tahu - its past culture and contemporary culture.
"I'd imagine there will be great interest from schools. We've had a lot of inquiries about Maori rock art, as rock art is part of the art and Maori culture segments of the curriculum."
South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce president Steve Lyttle believed the proposed Maori Rock Art Centre would positively affect local tourism.
"My understanding is that it will be an interactive display, so visitors will be able to really feel the experience.
"South Canterbury has a significant number of rock drawings in the area, so it is very appropriate that the centre is based here."
If an application for $650,000 made to the Lotteries Commission's significant community projects fund is successful, the centre will open in late 2010.
Ms Symon believed the trust was "very likely" to get the extra funding.
"We are negotiating with a few parties, but I would rather not name them," she said.
- Cerisse Denhardt.