Auckland Museum has a significant Maori collection and a close relationship with the Tangata Whenua or indigenous peoples of New Zealand. It has a breadth and depth of scholarship that provides a leadership role to the museum profession in that country.

In the mid nineties Auckland Museum embarked upon a program of restoration of its building (a nineteenth century, neo classical structure) and refurbishment of all its exhibit galleries.

The first exhibit to be completed was Scars on the Heart.  This exhibit interprets New Zealand’s involvement in war, particularly in relation to the effects that this has had on the evolution of a national culture.

Gillian Chaplin was contracted as a consultant to provide the Museum with a master plan for the use of multimedia for Scars on the Heart. Magian created the soundscapes for the exhibit and several multimedia programs.

Gillian was the curator and designer of a Holocaust exhibit which told the stories of survivors of the Holocaust who emigrated to New Zealand after World War II.  Magian created the multimedia programs for the exhibit.

Gillian was also contracted to create the multimedia master plan for the redevelopment of the Natural History Galleries.