Kia ora,

I’m curently installing a new display on level 2. The exhibition features photos and archives from the collection of John Macmillan Brown. It has been curated by student intern Matthew Croft, as part of his College of Arts internship, supervised by me and Art History Assoc. Professor Richard Bullen.  Here’s some info:

John Macmillan Brown (1846-1935) was one of the founding professors of Canterbury College (today UC). From 1874 he taught English and Classics, but he was also very interested in Polynesian anthropology and ethnology. As a consequence, he spent much time reading about the countries in the Pacific region. The Russo-Japanese War interested him and, unlike many of his contemporaries, he correctly foresaw that Japan would win. In 1908, Macmillan Brown travelled to Japan, Korea, Manchuria and China, to see these places for himself and discover first-hand the consequences of the War. The photographs in this exhibition come from his collection.

The Russo-Japanese War of 8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905, resulted from a rivalry for military dominance in East Asia between Russia and Japan. Russia had forced China into leasing the key strategic territory of Port Arthur on the southern coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, in Manchuria. As a result, Japan was forced to relinquish its control of the area, which it had governed since the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95. Numbers of Russian forces grew in Manchuria in 1903, prompting Japan to use force to take back control of the area.

If anyone has questions, they can contact me 🙂

Erin