MOTAT takes out top prize at Service IQ New Zealand Museums Awards

The Service IQ New Zealand Museums Awards are the premier industry awards for the wider museum and gallery sector in Aotearoa and after being recognised as a finalist in all five of the categories entered the MOTAT team are thrilled to be celebrating this special win.

MOTAT, New Zealand’s Museum of Transport and Technology has taken out the top prize for its exhibition Accelerate: Driving New Zealand in the category of ‘Exhibition Excellence: Science and Technology’ the 2019 ServiceIQ New Zealand Museums Awards in Wellington last night.

The Service IQ New Zealand Museums Awards are the premier industry awards for the wider museum and gallery sector in Aotearoa and after being recognised as a finalist in all five of the categories entered the MOTAT team are thrilled to be celebrating this special win.

“We are delighted to have received this award as it recognises the hard work, skill and dedication of the MOTAT Team and confirms that our focus on past, present and future Kiwi technology and ingenuity is working,” said MOTAT Chief Executive, Michael Frawley.

“Our goal of focusing on Kiwi technology and ingenuity is deliberate as we want to educate, challenge and inspire the next generation to be the innovators of the future. This is particularly important as we are a country of innovators, starting with the Tangata whenua and we need to build on that spirit and heritage.”

MOTAT’s exhibition Accelerate: Driving New Zealand, delves into New Zealand’s intimate relationship with vehicles and showcases MOTAT’s incredible collection.

The exhibition will remain on display until 2020 and includes classic vehicles like Bruce McLaren’s Cooper Climax and Sir Edmund Hillary’s Trans-Antarctic Massey Ferguson tractor and a changing line up of contemporary cars such as Mercury’s Evie and JUCY’s prototype electric campervan to help show how changing technologies will influence our lives now and into the future.

“The awards give us a chance to benchmark our work against that of the other major museums in the country,” said Steven Fox, MOTAT’s General Manager of Museum Experience.

“The MOTAT team should feel extremely heartened to have received these accolades from our industry peers.”