The national museum of New Zealand - Te Papa – is considering shutting down its award-winning publishing operation for up to five years, with the loss of four jobs.
Te Papa Press is a publishing company that produces books sold in the Wellington museum, online and in bookstores around the country. It produced 12 titles in the last financial year, including the New Zealand Post Book Awards' book of the year.
Te Papa spokeswoman Kate Camp told stuff.com.nz that the museum was considering shutting down the press for four to five years, and would make a decision in early May, after consulting with staff. "Te Papa is reviewing its investment in publishing to focus on core museum work," she said. "The proposal is to suspend publishing books for the next four to five years. Te Papa Press has produced many high-quality, award-winning books, and this review is not a reflection on the success of the Press."
The move has been heavily criticised by leading New Zealand writers including Jill Trevelyan, who won the book of the year prize for Peter McLeavey: The Life and Times of a New Zealand Art Dealer, which was published by Te Papa.
The move was “extraordinarily ill-conceived,” said Trevelyan. "The dismantling of Te Papa Press would mean such a loss to the museum – in terms of outreach, nationally and internationally, credibility as a research institution, and brand excellence. Te Papa Press is widely perceived as one of the success stories of the Te Papa project, and its highly effective staff have an enviable reputation in the museum and publishing world. If they go, print publishing at the museum will never recover." The move "undermines Te Papa's mission, in mana, and its very existence," she said.
Writer Hamish Keith said the plan showed a ‘fundamental misunderstanding’ by Te Papa's management. ‘It is museum's core business. It's not a peripheral extra added on like some peanuts you give away at a rugby game. Publication is the one way a museum gets beyond its doors."
Other works published by Te Papa have included: Berry Boys: Portraits of First World War Soldiers and Families by Michael Fitzgerald and Claire Regnault; The New Zealand Art Activity Book: 100+ Ideas for Creative Kids by Helen Lloyd; and Holding on to Home: New Zealand Stories and Objects of the First World War by Kate Hunter and Kirstie Ross.