FEATURE INTERVIEW

Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor Kerryn Pollock

With a passion for research, working on new ways to view and record heritage is a dream role for Kerryn. Instrumental in developing the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Rainbow List, Kerryn reflects on the importance of recognising and honouring culturally historic places.

WORDS: John O'Hare

Tell us about your role at HNZPT. What are some of the things you do on any given day? I am a Senior Heritage Assessment Advisor, which is a rather formal way of saying I tell, and look after, the stories of the places on Rārangi Kōrero, the New Zealand Heritage List. It’s a job of two major parts: looking after existing List entries by making sure the technical information is up to date and writing short historical narratives and heritage assessments for older listings that don’t have these due to changing information requirements (of which there are many; we are in eternal catch-up mode); and, secondly, shepherding nominations for new listings through the rigorous process. That’s when we get to immerse ourselves in research, thinking and writing. A typical day or week might see me off to the National Library or Archives New Zealand to do some research, talking to individuals and communities who have special knowledge about a place, answering public enquiries about listed places or giving advice on a potential nomination, and writing some authorative prose that utterly nails why something is a heritage place. There’s bound to be a bit of administration thrown in – listing is very processdriven, and we document all the steps and keep interested people, organisations and property owners informed. Tell us about your work with the Rainbow List Project and why it is such an important initiative. What has been one of the high points of this project for you? This is a passion project and I am so grateful that it’s part of my day job! The aim of the Rainbow List Project exists to improve the recognition of queer history in the New Zealand Heritage List. Our listing policy says the List is the “national statutory record of our rich and diverse place-based historical and cultural heritage” and there’s definitely room for improvement in the richness and diversity components contained in this statement. It is aspirational, especially when it comes to establishing which communities and histories are represented. Cultural records like heritage lists are a product of their time. They reflect the biases, power structures and priorities of the society in which they are created and thus have gaps. In the case of queer history, there’s the enormous impact of the historical illegality of male homosexuality, and how colonisation smothered fluid Māori sexualities, to consider. Addressing this requires active intervention by us. I am aware there are other gaps in the List but this is one that I am personally well-placed to deal with. The Rainbow List Project has great potential to be a model for other topic areas where representation is lacking.

Kerryn Pollock after interviewing (from left) Malcolm Vaughan, Scotty Kennedy and Georgina Beyer.

You could say this entire project is a high point but something that has stuck with me as I’ve made contact with queer people, communities and organisations is how many times I’ve been thanked by them for doing this project and telling our queer stories through heritage. The relationship building aspect of the project has been really meaningful. This feedback demonstrates not only the social and cultural value of our work but also the reputational benefits for our organisation. As well as updating existing listings to tell their queer stories, we are starting to see people putting forward nominations for inclusion in the List, and this type of engagement is really exciting. What does heritage mean to you, and why is it so important to honour and recognise our historic places? Heritage is the physical manifestation of human history and culture. Landscapes, buildings and structures hold the stories of our past, our ancestors, and their presence enables us to tell these stories in a tangible way. I believe this knowledge provides us with a sense of rooted belonging in the world. Is there a particular heritage place that is special to you? If so why? The Carkeek Observatory in Featherston, a timber astronomical observatory built in c. 1867. I completed the listing for this a couple of years ago and had the best time being a historical detective, delving into the archives to build on existing research and piecing together its story, which is now told in great detail in the listing report. This is a big part of the reason why this place is special to me – it took me on a wonderful research journey. At first glance it looks like a ramshackle pile of planks (it’s a ruin), but once you know its story as the earliest surviving astronomical observatory building in the country, you can absolutely see its function and understand why it is important. It is a really good example of how stories activate a place and how heritage listing contributes to public knowledge and understanding of history. n