How I Live... Behind The Scenes At The Museum 'We Have A Lock Of Queen Victoria's Hair'

Sarah Jacobs (29) is the Parliamentary Collection Curator and Leads Tours of the Collection on the Last Friday of Every Month.

- Julie Jacobson

"I grew up in Ngaruawahia, in a big farming family. When I was at college, we went to Denmark for a wedding and did some travelling around Europe. We had 24 hours in Paris, so decided to go to the Louvre. I had never seen anything on that scale and I was completely in awe of it all.

I had always been interested in history, but to a 15-year-old, the visual history was unbelievable. I could have spent a week exploring it all, but we only had half a day. I just thought, this is what I want to do with my life.

I went on to study art history at university in Canada – which meant I could combine studying with travel rather than doing a traditional OE – and then came back home to do my Masters in Museum Studies.

It was through that I came to realise that yes, I love the art, but it’s the history, the stories behind it that really interests me.

There’s a team of two – me and a displays and collections assistant – who manage the care of the collection and the displays around the Beehive, Parliament House and the Bowen House exhibition space.

There’s 4500 pieces in the collection, which is valued at $16m, and ranges from artworks to things like clocks and historic furniture. We have an annual budget that is used to buy new items, but a lot of the objects have been gifted or donated.