Otago Museum is working with local runanga and the Dunedin City Council to create a special community dawn ceremony that will open the city’s festival.
Maori curator Gerard O’Regan said the museum was inviting Otago people to send photographs and details of their loved ones who had died in the past year.
These images would be shared as part of a digital artwork on large-scale projections on the outside of the Otago Museum building.
"That will be an important part of our dawn gathering this year, where everyone in Dunedin is welcome to gather, remember, and start celebrating the new year ahead."
He said the ceremony would be led by mana whenua speakers and there would be karakia, waiata, as well as kapa haka by the He Waka Kotuia group, before a free shared breakfast.
Otago Museum marketing manager Kate Oktay said photo submissions closed on June 15.
The event would start at 7am on June 24 on the Museum Reserve, and celebrations would continue for the rest of the weekend, she said.
-- John Lewis
