Kate Camp | Poet, Essayist and Kaiwhakahaere Whakapā | Head of Marketing and Communications at Te Papa
Sounds like home
Four ferries anchored in the harbour (inter-island), 1970s, Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena
I grew up in Khandallah looking down on the harbour. On still nights you’d hear the trains shunting in the rail yards, and announcements of the Cook Strait ferries wafting up the hill.
P.K poster child
Holding a pack of P.K. chewing gum. As a child in the 80s I was obsessed with blue P.K. gum – this was the kind that really cleared out the sinuses. I chewed it constantly and always swallowed it, never spat it out. I am the living proof that those horror stories about swallowing your chewing gum were not true!
Poetic musings
"What is the point of working?", Cilla McQueen, 1981, Te Papa.
Cilla McQueen is a favourite poet of mine. One of my treasured artworks is a digital “embroidery sampler” she gave me which reads “Any task done with anger or impatience will be imperfectly done.” I didn’t know that we had her artist books in the collection until I was looking at Kōtuia, now I am excited to see them one day.
The mysterious Leslie Atkin
2 female swimmers wading out to sea, Leslie Adkin, 1934, Te Papa
I love sea swimming, and also love Leslie Adkin. When I started at Te Papa there was a meeting room called Leslie Adkin – I didn’t know that and kept thinking, who the hell is this Leslie Adkin guy who gets invited to a lot of meetings but never seems to turn up? I ended up using a Leslie Adkin picture as the cover of one of my books.