Sam Hunt To Read At Kauri Museum

Friday 24th August 2007

Sam Hunt To Read At Kauri Museum

New Zealand’s best known poet is to read from a series of poems which lay hidden for 40 years in a drawer at The Kauri Museum at Matakohe, in Northland.

Sam Hunt, who lives on the Kaipara, will return from a series of performances in the South Island to read the words written by photographer Tudor Collins, and a friend, before Collins’ death in 1970.
The poems, under the pen name Koroheke, or ‘old men’ describe life in the kauri forests in the days when Tudor Collins worked as a bushman and made an extensive photographic record which he bequeathed to The Kauri Museum.

Some 130 images from the collection have now been compiled into a landmark book, by writer Paul Campbell. “Kauri Cameraman” will be launched at the museum on September 5th 2007.

The launch will be in conjunction with an exhibition of Collins' work and also mark the establishment of a web-based digital image service hosted on the museum’s website.

“Having Sam to read this ‘forgotten’ verse is going to be a great tribute to Tudor Collins’ work, as the words written by 'Koroheke' underscore the images captured on film in the early part of last century,’ said Mr Campbell.

“And with the exhibits of The Kauri Museum, and the Tudor Collins photo exhibition as a backdrop – it’s a bit of a dream scenario, I guess.”

Although he needs little introduction, for all his adult life, Sam Hunt has followed a commitment to writing and performing his poems. He has worked extensively throughout New Zealand and Australia, in hotels, rock festivals, theatres, prisons, and schools.

“I’m looking forward to the appearance at the museum” he said. “In fact you could say the Matakohe date is at the top of my priorities.”

Tudor Collins, who died in 1970, is also renowned for his later photographic work, which included covering the 1931 Napier Earthquake, the sinking of the liner Niagara in World War Two, as well as royal tours and many other events, mainly for The New Zealand Herald and The Weekly News.

ENDS

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