What is Hamilton?

Survey Hamilton is a multimedia exhibition about contemporary life in Hamilton and includes photographs, moving

image, sound recordings and design media.

It examines Hamilton’s environmental attributes, its economy and people’s sense of home and is a collaborative work by a group of researchers from Wintec School of Media Arts, the University of Canterbury, Massey University and independent researchers.

Project Leader Joe Citizen said “It’s a tremendously exciting project everyone involved is a leader in their own field, it’s been a lot of hard work, but the results have been phenomenal and it’s evolved into something that’s uniquely Hamilton”.

The timing of the exhibition, during Hamilton’s 150 year anniversary is “critical to understanding now more than ever, what is Hamilton in an era where atleast officially, 150 years of Hamilton has passed,” said Mr Citizen.
It is hoped that Survey Hamilton will provoke participants and audiences who see it to ask themselves what is Hamilton? and what is their place in this place that we call Hamilton?

When asked about the lack of Māori representation in the exhibition Mr Citizen said that there wasnt enough Māori engagement as he would like to have seen despite attempts made.

The exhibition was initiated by David Cook when he was a research leader at Media Arts at WINTEC and has been about two years in the making.

Mr Cook and Rodrigo Hill’s Night Riders is a photographic exhibition where they set up a pop-up street studio in the midst of the central city bar scene, one Thursday night and photographed people at random.

Wintec’s School of Media Arts and Waikato Museum have collaborated on a number of project’s involving media, arts and moving image and according to Waikato Museum Director Cherie Meecham, the synergies between both organisations lend themselves well to future projects.

Survey Hamilton is on now at the Waikato Museum until 23 November 2014. Entry is free.