About

At Taranaki Media Archive we are passionate about collecting and sharing historical audio/visual material. Our collections come to us from a range of sources, with many items only available here.

Here you can learn more about the Taranaki Media Archive Trust, which runs this site, and also discover ways that you can support this project.

Who we are

Taranaki Media Archive Trust

Our trust was formed to preserve the history of Taranaki and make it freely available for everyone to view, listen to, and enjoy.

Our board (pictured) are Selwyn Metcalfe (Chair), Mary Bourke, Gordon Brown, Kinsley Sampson, and Dinnie Moeahu together with Coordinator Consultant Hamish Guthrie.

Our Story

The Taranaki Media Archive started life as the Audio History Trust back in 2008. A group of like-minded people got together with the aim to preserve our Taranaki stories and make them into enjoyable audio documentaries in CD form that would be freely available for people to access.

The combined libraries of the South Taranaki District Council agreed to put them on their shelves and since then they have all been borrowed and enjoyed frequently.

The founding trust board members were Selwyn Metcalfe, Lyn Walker, Marlene Stevenson, and Hamish Guthrie.

Since the Audio Trust’s inception over 45 audio documentaries have been made – quite a few with people who have now passed on, which emphasises the importance of gathering these stories before the are lost forever.

In 2008 the most accessible format was a CD. Time and technology has moved on, and these days many people probably don’t have a viable CD player to access our collection. The trust was then faced with the predicament “what to do with the collection?”

It was decided to reform the Trust and build a website to house the sound collection, but to also extend the parameters of the trust to include our history on film/video as well. With that in mind the trust decided that a change of name would better reflect its mission … and the Taranaki Media Archive was born.

Become a Friend

When you become a Friend of the Taranaki Media Archive you will receive our Newsletters which will give background stories to some of our listings, plus, we will also give you an up to date list of all the new files that we have loaded up to the website.

All we ask in return is a KOHA $ Donation for your membership which will be valid through to 31 March 2024.

Your KOHA donation will assist us to cover some of the running expenses—like digitisation of film, loading and reformatting media files, and all the other general costs incurred keeping the website running.

The Taranaki Media Archive is an independent Charitable Trust, we are not funded by any government organisations so your donation will greatly assist us.

How to Join

To become a friend of the Taranaki Media Archive and sign-up for our newsletter, complete the form below, then direct credit your Koha donation into our bank account:

Account name: The Taranaki Media Archive
Bank A/c: 15-3950-0606720-01
Particulars: First Name
Code: Surname
Reference: Friends Koha

(If you just wish to make a donation without joining the Friends of the TMA, please replace the Reference of Friends Koha with Donation.)

COMPLETE THIS FORM TO JOIN

Volunteer with us

Are you interested in our Taranaki History?

Are you able to volunteer for a few hours regularly to help us gather and process new material and manage our collection? If you have reasonable computer skills and are interested in this volunteer position, please contact Hamish Guthrie on 027 608 3074 or email Hamish directly.