Instead of sticking to their knitting, Central Stories Museum and Gallery staff have gone on a woolly wander with their latest offering.
''Wool Away'', an exhibition which showcases the sheep and wool industry in Central Otago, opened last week and will run until May 4. It focuses on five sheep stations which helped establish the area and highlights the range of businesses and companies that now rely on the sheep industry and stations in the district.
Running alongside the exhibition is another titled ''Cover Up'', which features shawls and wraps made from merino wool and four woollen garments from the Eden Hore collection. A lecture series will be held as part of the exhibition, and a bus tour, titled A Woolly Wander, will take place on April 13, a ''behind-the-scenes look at some of the sheep industry's major businesses''.
''Whilst researching the history of sheep and stations, we have come to discover that Central Otago [farmers] really were pioneers of arguably the most important New Zealand industry,'' museum general manager Rachael Welfare said.
Some of the country's earliest stations were established in the district and the stations had consistently worked to improve their land ''and as a result, continue to lead the country, and in some cases the world, in the quality of their sheep, wool and meat''.
Principal sponsors of the exhibition, Tony and Jillian Jopp, of Moutere Station, said sheep farming had been the backbone of the economic activity that had driven commercial development in Central Otago for the last 140 years.
''However, the industry is largely a `quiet achiever' and its successes often go unrecognised compared to other sectors such as gold, wine and tourism,'' they said.
The Central Otago District Council paid $40,000 for the Eden Hore collection eight months ago and this is the first time any of the garments have been displayed since the council took ownership. Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper said the inclusion of the garments was a great way to give the community a ''taste'' of the collection.
