Radio broadcast audio supplied for the exhibition from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero.
How was Golden Days put together?
This idea required the development of robust robotics which could sustain years of use. Model-maker Rob Uivel built the robotics. In all there are twenty-six different motorised robots, including a motor mower, machine gun, photograph album, and a tui.
Alan Honey was asked to produce computer programmes that direct the images and audio in sequence with the robotics.
Dean Cato supervised the buying of all of the props for the ‘junkshop’. This involved a long search for items that would be typical of a junkshop and have a recognisable New Zealand identity or flavour.
Head researcher Kay Seatter-Dunbar and other researchers travelled around New Zealand searching for archival film footage and images, both still and moving. One of the most exciting finds was colour footage filmed in Greymouth of the 1953 visit by Queen Elizabeth II.
The thirteen-minute film is projected onto a four by two-metre screen, has a stereophonic sound track, and is made up of 2500 images of New Zealand. The 'junkshop view' of the street represents a New Zealand city at 5.00pm.
What historic New Zealand events are shown in Golden Days?
Mt Tarawera eruption (1886) Royal visit by the Queen (1953) Tangiwai disaster (Christmas Eve 1953) Napier earthquake (1931) Ballentynes fire in Christchurch (18 November 1947) Inangahua earthquake (1968) Wahine sinking (1968) Mt Erebus plane crash (1979) The death of Prime Minister Norman Kirk (1974) Young people at James K Baxter's funeral Princess Te Puea’s burial Poverty Bay floods (1950) Hutt Valley floods (1976) Mount Ruapehu erupting (1996) Dame Whina Cooper on the Māori Land March (1975) Bastion Point Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior