Curat Of Cur The Secret Life Of Butterflies

Esther Tobin (39), From Auckland, Is the Content and Interpretation Developer at Auckland War Memorial Museum

- Ciara Pratt

 When my grandmother was young and first came to New Zealand from India on a ship, the museum building was the first thing she saw. For her, it was such a striking and unexpected building to encounter because she’d grown up in Northern India. I kind of like to think of her seeing it for the very first time when I look at the building. And now I work here!

My role is to be the advocate for visitors to the museum. It’s my responsibility to make sure they have a really fantastic experience in the exhibitions and that we tell stories in the most compelling way.

I work closely with the project team and the curator who are the ones with the specialist knowledge of a specific exhibition. But in this role, you get exposed to so many random topics at many times. I don’t have specialist knowledge in any one area, but I do have this random general knowledge about obscure things.