Letters, Tinder messages to feature in upcoming Auckland Museum love exhibition

Ripu Bhatia Reporter from Community News

Auckland Museum is calling on the public submit personal messages they have received in their life about love, loss and longing.

Letters, texts, postcards and even Tinder messages Aucklanders have sent to one another will be compiled into an upcoming exhibition in mid-2021.

Auckland Museum spokesperson Nina Finigan said the exhibition will explore the ways Aucklanders communicate feelings of love, loss, and longing, and how that has changed and stayed the same over time.

“Love, loss and longing – these feelings are universal and reveal something profound about what it means to be human,” she said.

“How we communicate these emotions continues to evolve but our need to tell people we love and miss them is timeless.”

Submissions can be anything from a love letter physically received in the mail, an email from a friend overseas, an affectionate card from a family member or messages from a Tinder profile.

They can focus on love lost in the form of a breakup message, a letter from someone disclosing profound grief, or a letter that takes on new meaning after the sender has passed away.

Family stories where letters or messages played a key part, or letters that have been passed down in your family, are also welcomed for submission.

"We acknowledge that such messages are highly personal. We are committed to ethical use and display of personal stories and will work alongside submitters to ensure their stories are treated with care, sensitivity and respect,” Finigan said.

To submit items for consideration please send a photo, scan or screen grab of the letter, email or message history to submissions@aucklandmuseum.com

Submissions close Sunday 13 September.