Through the Shop Window is an exhibition featuring archaeology and stories of the 1860s shops that stood on the site of Te Pae.
Looking out through the western windows of Tūranga to the site of Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, this exhibition showcases the archaeology and stories of the 1860s shops that once covered that same street-front. Many of the huge array of artefacts excavated from the site were once "fancy goods" displayed on the shelves of shops like London and Paris House, Gould and Miles or the Well-Known Little Shop, for the perusal of early colonial settlers in need of a little retail therapy.
Come along to Tūranga to find out more, including why these objects were thrown away (possible culprits include clumsiness, fisticuffs and a lost labrador), how many times shops on this street burned down (more than you think) and what these artefacts, together with the stories of the shops and shopkeepers, can tell us about colonial consumer culture in 1860s Christchurch.
Meet an archaeologist
Meet archaeologist Jessie Garland who dug up the artefacts in the exhibition (on Tuakiri / Identity, Level 2, Tūranga)
Goodbye Gloucester Street West
Read the series of posts uncovering the history of the city block that the new Christchurch convention centre, Te Pae is being built on.
More
- View the exhibition in the calendar
- Rare finds ‘sniffed out’ at Te Pae Convention Centre site, Newsline, 26 April 2021
- Read The City Remains blog
Through the Shop Window photos
Add a comment to: Take a look back in time – Through the Shop Window exhibition on at Tūranga until Wednesday 30 June