On 13 March 2024, Te Papa Press launched Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa a book developed in partnership with iwi, which delves into Te Papa’s Mātauranga Māori, History, and Art collections to explore taonga and objects intimately connected with the key events and players associated with the New Zealand Wars. Here, the authors – Curator Mātauranga Māori Matiu Baker (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Whakaue), Curator New Zealand Histories and Cultures Katie Cooper, Research Associate Michael Fitzgerald, and Curator Historical New Zealand Art Rebecca Rice – answer ten questions about the book and the mahi involved to publish it.Read more

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A night sky with a tent and people down on the ground.

As we mark the anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle’s devastation over parts of the North Island, Mātauranga Māori Curator Amber Aranui thought it poignant to reflect on the year, what has taken place and where communities are now, and how Te Papa continues to support them. Here she focuses on her own experiences with the hapori she is connected to, Omāhu in Hawke’s Bay.  Read more

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Selwyn Muru, (Ngāti Kurī, Te Aupōuri, Te Pātū, Ngāti Rēhia, Muri Kahara, Te Whakatōhea) passed away in January 2024. Muru was a gifted and influential artist, as well as a writer, broadcaster, teacher and orator. Here, Contemporary Art Curator Hanahiva Rose reflects on Muru’s work and legacy. E hika māRead more

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This blog was originally published in Issue 31 of Garland Magazine, 1 June 2023. For Isaac Te Awa, poi is not only an accessory for dazzling performances, it is also a traditional Māori instrument used for practical and cultural reasons in itself. I have always found something hypnotic about seeingRead more

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The Ockham Lecture series is an annual programme of lectures and panel discussions that critically engage with craft, design, and architecture. Director of Audience and Insight Puawai Cairns recently presented her Ockham Lecture in connection to Tīhāte!, a project in the Objectspace exhibition Pohewa Pāhewa: a Māori design kaupapa which demonstrates how t-shirt design outcome is used by Māori to show affiliations, share protest messages, and commemorate important moments. Puawai is a co-author of the book Protest Tautohetohe: Objects of Resistance, Persistence and Defiance, along with Curator History Stephanie Gibson, and then Curator Mātauranga Māori Matariki Williams. Here we’re reproducing some of her kōrero from the lecture as well as contributions from Stephanie Gibson about some of the tees that are featured in the book and why museums collect them as taonga.Read more

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I recently spent a week on Norfolk Island collecting ferns. One non-fern plant I was particularly keen to see was harakeke (Phormium tenax), on which I’ve done recent genetic work. On Norfolk Island it is known as flax, so I’ll use that name here. What I hadn’t appreciated before the trip was the significance of flax to the settlement of Norfolk Island.Read more

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It has been over two years since Aotearoa New Zealand went into lockdown in the hopes of limiting the spread of Covid-19. While not yet behind us, we are now in a position to be able to reflect on those early stages of the pandemic. Throughout this time a myriad of responses were put into place with the community at the very centre. Master of Museum and Practice Student Kate Hudspith-Gooch spent a one-month internship at Te Papa, and was tasked with conducting a small-scale research project into one of the lesser-acknowledged responses to the pandemic – iwi-led Covid-19 Checkpoints – as a part of the ongoing Making Histories: Communities and Covid-19 Project. Kate talks about her research here.Read more

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