The scholarship, creativity, professionalism, enthusiasm, commitment and sheer hard work of the Kahu Ora: Living Cloaks team came to fruition today in the VISA gallery, and tomorrow will be on view to the public. It’s a very beautiful exhibition, and visitors will love to be transported into Te Whare Pora – the House of Weaving…. Read more »
It’s two days to go before we open our Kahu Ora Living Cloaks exhibition – and time to give you a little preview of what you will be able to see from Friday 8 June. When an exhibition opens and all the taonga are in place, the graphics are up, and the lighting is done it’s… Read more »
Every exhibition I work on is different. Each time I learn more and my basket of knowledge (my kete) expands and grows. This time it’s a wonderful exhibition about Māori cloaks, which features many kākahu from Te Papa’s collection, plus a small number of unique taonga which we’re fortunate to borrow from elsewhere. Kahu Ora Living Cloaks opens in about 2… Read more »
Whakaae-whenua – a recent acquisition Part of our roles as curators is to acquire, or purchase, taonga Māori (Māori treasures) to further strengthen and develop Te Papa’s collection. When considering taonga tūturu (customary taonga) for acquisition, it’s the interesting, the novel, and the extraordinary that we tend to focus on these days – not surprising… Read more »
He kanohi kitea, he hokinga mahara. To see a face is to stir the memory. On Sunday 6 May 2012, a beautiful kahu kiwi cloak from the Te Papa collection, was named by her descendants as part of a special church service held at Rongomaraeroa marae, Porangahau. Te Papa Press recently published a cloak book… Read more »
Arnold Manaaki Wilson 1928–2012 Ngāi Tūhoe and Te Arawa iwi (tribes) Artist Ahakoa ruarua noa o kupu i takoto Anō te rite he whakatauākī te reka I puta ai āu mahi tohungatanga I runga i te tatangi o te kī. Tirohia mai rā aku pewa I taurite tēnei ka tītoko Kei te ngaru whakateo E… Read more »
Aotearoa New Zealand is home to a large Pasifika population. This illustrated collection of essays is the first of its kind to tell their stories – from the legendary feats of the ancestors of modern Māori, to the politically explosive dawn raids of the 1970s, and beyond. This beautiful book is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of historical… Read more »
A waggley tail is among the many body parts missing from this particular dog. One of the more unusual items acquired by Te Papa recently was this mounted dog’s head, claimed to be a kurī (Māori dog). Kurī were brought to New Zealand from Polynesia by the ancestors of Māori, and were found throughout the… Read more »
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been busy installing an updated selection of works in the Collecting Contemporary exhibition on Level 5. Collecting Contemporary is an exhibition featuring some of the contemporary New Zealand art works that Te Papa acquired between 2006 and 2011. Read more about Collecting Contemporary As a curator, the… Read more »
Sorry about the length of time between posts, I’ve been juggling a bunch of different gigs and research duties. The fun don’t stop! But regardless of my shameless plea about time poverty, I better get this blog back up off its flatline….eep. I’ve only been a curator for 7 months and even if you were the brainiest… Read more »