Te Papa fish experts Andrew Stewart and Thom Linley, and mollusc expert Kerry Walton, are part of a team that discovered well over 100 new animal species in the depths of the Bounty Trough, east of the South Island. The expedition was led by Ocean Census, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), and Te Papa. We caught up with Andrew, Thom, and Kerry to hear why this expedition was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.Read more

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We are saddened to hear of the recent death of New Zealand botanical illustrator and author, Audrey Eagle (1925–2022).  Eagle was a talented artist, writer and botanical collector, whose careful observation, skill and determination over many decades brought forth several books, each containing beautiful and botanically accurate illustrations and descriptionsRead more

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In: Art, Science

Over the course of many years, a tidy collection of bird eggs has made its way across the world. The collection’s final resting place just so happens to be here at Te Papa, where Natural History intern Isabella Milner has steadily worked through cataloguing it, and packing the eggs away into their forever homes. Here she describes how eggs are identified despite having very little information to go on.Read more

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Doctors scrubs made of material featuring highly decorative Polynesian motifs in brown and black

It’s been a year since Aotearoa New Zealand went into lockdown in a move to restrict the spread of Covid-19. During this month-long period people sought to process the magnitude of what was happening through creative expression and entrepreneurial adaptations. Read about three taonga that Te Papa has collected to tell the story of this time.Read more

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In: History

Just over six months ago, we lived in a very different Aotearoa. Six months later, what would we remember from then? On May 28 2020, we reopened our doors to the public after three months of closure due to Covid-19 lockdown. To acknowledge the time we’d spent apart, and to welcome our manuhiri (visitors) back into the building, we wanted to give them the opportunity to capture a small, personal moment in history, a snapshot in time as we collectively adjusted to our ‘new normal’.Read more

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In: History
A collection of slides of 14 gnats in one image

Assistant researcher Shaun Thompson is working with Curator Julia Kasper studying the lives of fungus gnats, one of the biggest Diptera groups in New Zealand. They aim to provide updated species descriptions and distribution records which may help detect invasive exotic species present in New Zealand, prevent the loss of these gnat species and avert harm to our ecosystem.Read more

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Coloured wheel on a wall with a booklet in front of it

Ngā mihi o te Tau Hou! Today’s New Moon marks the start of the lunar new year. So now is a good time to sync your life to the Maramataka – the Māori lunar calendar. Read on to learn about the Maramataka and what each day of the month is good for, and then download a dial to keep track of the days.Read more

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Close-up of Finale: Bouquet showing the abundance of strips of colour

A moment of jubilation, a three-dimensional painting, thousands of fluttering, colourful strands. Hundreds of thousands in fact. Finale: Bouquet represents the culmination of work by Australia artist Nike Savvas and a Te Papa team entrusted with realising her monumental artwork. Here, spatial designer Vioula Said and exhibition preparator Sam Wallis run you through what went into bringing it to life.Read more

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In: Art, Behind the scenes

‘This is the best picture yet painted in this country’ is how Colin McCahon described his Ruby Bay, 1945. Here, author and curator Peter Simpson talks about the growing confidence that McCahon was showing through his correspondence around the time of working on this painting.Read more

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