Auckland Museum Has Announced its 2018 Exhibition Lineup

The Auckland War Memorial Museum has launched its exhibition lineup for 2018 and let us tell you now — it's got some real gems. 

From February 2, make your way out of the central city for Volume South, the South Auckland edition of the Aotearoa music making exhibition, Volume. Hosted at MIT in Manukau, the exhibition showcases and champions the artists and scenes that represent Southside pride.

Acknowledging its role as the War Memorial Museum, Let Me Be Myself - The Life and Story of Anne Frank will kick off its three-year tour in February. This special exhibition takes a closer look at how life would have been for both Anne and her family, the events surrounding the Holocaust and the rise of the Nazi Party.

If you've ever been a fan of LEGO — how could you not be? — then you may want to jump onto TradeMe in preparation for the May exhibition, Brickman. The immersive exhibition allows attendees to explore the world as if it were built out of LEGO and build creations of their own. More than 50 never-seen-before models will be on display at the exhibition.

One for the butterfly lovers out there. Thousands of butterfly species will be on display at The Secret World of Butterflies, and if you can believe it, all are the personal collection of one enthusiast alone. There'll even be a chance to create your own butterfly to set free in the digital forest.

Later in the year, the museum celebrates 125 years of women's suffrage with Are We There Yet? If there's one exhibition not to miss, it's this one. Bring your mates and your dates — especially those brosocialists you know — the exhibition looks at gender equality successes so far and, more importantly, how far we've still got to go. 

Not to mention there's still time to check out the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year exhibition, showing until February 25, 2018. The exhibition displays 65 top photographers across a range of categories, including landscape, society and culture, aerial, photo story and wildlife. 

Also hot off the press, as part of a 20-year plan to transform and revitalise the museum, a Special Exhibitions Hall will open early next year. To make space for the hall, both the Wild Child and Encounter galleries will have to close, so if you're planning on taking little ones to the museum this year, make sure they don't have their heart set on these particular spaces or you could be in for a few tears. 

For more information about the 2018 exhibition lineup, visit the Auckland War Memorial Museum website.

Image: Women's March, Auckland, January 2017. Photographer Emily Lear. Auckland Museum Collection: PH-2017-10-1.