Evaluation of Contraception: Uncovering the collection of Dame Margaret Sparrow

Tuhinga 29: 174-187

ABSTRACT: This paper explores the context, development and evaluation of Contraception: Uncovering the collection of Dame Margaret Sparrow, an exhibition at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa) in 2015–16. Collections and exhibitions of contraceptive material are rare in New Zealand museums. In the case of Te Papa, strategic acquisitions since 2004 have enabled the display of contraceptive objects, culminating in the stand-alone exhibition Contraception, based on Dame Margaret’s extensive collection. To guide the exhibition’s development, formative evaluation was conducted by members of the exhibition team, including the curator/author. Having exhibition staff talk directly to visitors enabled immediate understanding of our audiences, and ensured that staff could confidently champion the findings at a senior approval level and feed the results directly into the exhibition’s development. Summative evaluation followed in order to understand the impacts of the exhibition. The paper details the mechanics and findings of both evaluations, and the exhibition’s successes. It also acknowledges that curatorial assumptions regarding visitors’ perceptions of the exhibition were largely counteracted by the results.

KEYWORDS: Contraception exhibition, birth control, Margaret Sparrow, visitor research, formative evaluation, summative evaluation, contraceptive objects, sex and sexuality education.