Tag Archives: Exhibitions

All action after school club

15 January 2013 – 3.46pm

A team from the Discovery Centres recently spent nine Wednesday afternoons together with nine awesome tamariki (children) in a trial run of Te Papa’s first after school club.

Through the after school club we wanted to learn, together with the tamariki, about the stories Te Papa tells. We also wanted to find out how everyone can connect to Te Papa’s collections and use them to tell our own stories.

External speakers came in to talk to the after school club about all sorts of topics, from Samoan sasa to stick insects.

The first week saw Alistair from Wellington Photographic Supplies show us how to make the whole classroom into a big camera obscura. The tamariki built their own pinhole cameras and took photos of objects and scenery around Te Papa.

After School Club posing for the pinhole camera Photo: Kimberley Gustavsson. © Te Papa.

After School Club posing for the pinhole camera. Photo: Kimberley Gustavsson. © Te Papa.

Another week we discovered karetao (traditional Māori puppets) with Ati from the Discovery Centres, and got to build our own contemporary ones with the help of Rich from Ponoko. The tamariki created characters and environments for the karetao,  designed them and wrote their mihi (greetings).

Carson and his karetao Photo: Kimberley Gustavsson. © Te Papa.

Karson and his karetao. Photo: Kimberley Gustavsson. © Te Papa.

After karatao came a field trip! Ricardo Palma, an entomologist, took us on a special tour of the Tory Street building, where Te Papa’s zoological specimens are kept. The tamariki got to choose which insects to learn about: weta, stick insects and beetles were high on the list.

From insects to dancing in just one week: Crystal from the Discovery Centres showed us how to dance the Samoan sasa with style. We interpreted the sasa to tell the stories of people who travelled to New Zealand from the PacificIslands, learning NZ history and dancing skills at the same time!

With all that hard work, the tamariki deserved a reward – and they got one! At the end of the after school club, the tamariki curated their own exhibition, showing the karetao and pinhole cameras to the public. Frith and Helen from Te Papa’s writing team talked to us about how to write labels for exhibition objects and the tamariki wrote one for their karetao.

The exhibition now sits proudly in Inspiration Station, on Level 4. It was great to have the tamariki and their whānau (family) join us for the opening of the exhibition, complete with a blessing and delicious kai (food).

Rangimoana Taylor blessing the After School Club's exhibition Photo: Kimberley Gustavsson. © Te Papa.

Rangimoana Taylor blessing the After School Club’s exhibition Photo: Kimberley Gustavsson. © Te Papa.

This is the first after school club exhibition at Te Papa and we’re really proud of all the tamariki who have taken part. They did a fantastic job on the exhibition, so please check it out. You’ll see some unusual karetao – from a free-running ninja to a sky spirit!

Thanks to everyone who helped to make the after school club so special.

By ruthbhendry | Posted in Education, Kids | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

News from Loans – What to see in January 2013

8 January 2013 – 12.02pm

It is a new year and I suspect you are not at work again just yet but happily enjoying the gorgeous sunny weather we have been having. Well… here in Wellington anyway!

While you are still out and about can I remind you of some of the exhibitions that we have lent our collection items to?

Untitled. From the portfolio: Underwood, 2001, New Zealand. Leek, Saskia. Purchased 2001. Te Papa

At the Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt, look for the seven paintings Te Papa lent to the exhibition titled Saskia Leek: Desk Collection. The exhibition provides the first opportunity for audiences to see a broad range of Leek’s work and appreciate Leek as an artist whose works may be physically modest in scale, but whose artistic reach is considerable. The exhibition is on until 14 April 2013 so you have plenty of time to visit.

The Clerkenwell flower makers, 1896. Fisher, Samuel Melton. Gift of Levin and Co. 1912. Te Papa

You have until 27 January 2013 to indulge in the sumptuous Victorian and Edwardian paintings at the Tauranga Art Gallery.  Fifteen of the twenty-three paintings in the exhibition Love, Life and Loss: Emotive and Evocative Paintings from the Victorian and Edwardian Eras are from Te Papa’s collection.

Ranunculus buchananii Hook.f. circa 1865, New Zealand. Buchanan, John. Acquisition history unknown. Te Papa

If you are in Dunedin check out the exhibition Art in the Service of Science – Dunedin’s John Buchanan on at the Hocken Collection gallery.  You have until 22 April 2013 to spot the sixty-two botanical, bird and fossil drawings, wood engravings and watercolours Te Papa has lent to this exhibition.

Back in Wellington you have until 10 February 2013 to catch two exhibitions that include Te Papa collection items. 

 At the Adam Art Gallery the exhibition We will work with you, not for you! Wellington Media Collective 1978-1998 examines the politics of style implicit in the Wellington Media Collective’s substantial body of graphic work, and through this lens, surveys a history of public culture in Wellington and New Zealand.  Included in this exhibition is a flag from Te Papa’s collection made for anti-Springbok rugby tour protests on the day of the second test at AthleticPark, Wellington, in August 1981.  Made by Chris McBride, the flag is screen-printed in black and brown with a clenched fist and the words Amandla Amandla.  Amandla, a Xhosa and Zulu word meaning power, combined with a clenched fist makes the flag forceful and dramatic.  The Springbok protests were about something much deeper than rugby; people were taking a stand about apartheid in South Africa and racism in New Zealand.

The photographer’s shirt, 09 Sep 2003, Wellington. Cauchi, Ben. Purchased 2003. Te Papa

You still have time to check out and find the Ben Chauchi photographs at the City Gallery Wellington.  Ben Cauchi: The Sophist’s Mirror explores Chauchi’s intensive investment in and negotiation of the processes, histories and codes of photography offering new ways for historical photography techniques to work the contemporary world.  Look out for The photographer’s shirt from Te Papa’s collection.

By Jo Torr | Posted in Borrowing and Lending | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Name our monarch butterflies!

6 December 2012 – 2.29pm

NatureSpace has an exciting new display – monarch butterfly caterpillars! Watch them grow from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

We need your help. The caterpillars don’t have a name! What should we call them? Put your suggestions in the comments, tweet them to @tepapa or email ruth.hendry@tepapa.govt.nz.

We’ll pick the best two names and let you know what you’ve named them.

Send in your pics!

There’s a community display in NatureSpace where we’re putting up your images of New Zealand monarch butterflies from egg to adult. We’d love to see your pictures!

You can email them to ruth.hendry@tepapa.govt.uk and we’ll put them in the display so everyone can see them.

Male Monarch butterfly: scent pocket on vein of hind wing. Sharell, Richard. Gift of Mrs L. Sharell, 1987. © The Estate of Richard Sharell. Te Papa

Male monarch butterfly: scent pocket on vein of hind wing. Sharell, Richard. Gift of Mrs L. Sharell, 1987. © The Estate of Richard Sharell. Te Papa

Did you know…

Monarch butterflies in America and Canada migrate over 3,000 kilometres each year. It’s the longest insect migration.

In New Zealand, monarch butterflies don’t migrate. Perhaps they’re lazy!

Visit our caterpillars

We’ll be releasing them once they turn into butterflies, so catch them whilst you can.

You can find out more about monarch butterflies by checking out the books in NatureSpace, visiting the ARKive website or visiting Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

By ruthbhendry | Posted in Kids | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)

Behind the Scenes of Angels and Aristocrats

8 October 2012 – 5.06pm

Te Papa’s latest art exhibition, Angels & Aristocrats, opens on the 20th October in the Level 5 galleries.  The exhibition draws on a number of collections from around New Zealand including artworks from Te Papa’s collection which you will see on display.  Some of these paintings required attention in the conservation lab before the exhibition began, to allow them to be fully appreciated on display.  As paintings age they begin to deteriorate and changes occur in their appearance and condition.  Both deterioration and change are a result of the interaction of all the materials which make up a painting and the environment around them.  Therefore, as conservators we sometimes have to intervene and carry out treatment to repair and stabilise the art work.

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Mrs Humphrey Devereux; 1771; Copley, John Singleton. Ultra-violet examination of the painting during cleaning. The varnish fluoresces a bright blue colour which indicates a synthetic varnish layer. The painting is partially cleaned at this point hence the patchy nature of the fluorescence. You can also clearly see the test cleaning spots and two areas of damage which appear as white marks in the image, 2012, Photograph by Katherine Campbell. © Te Papa

Conservation procedures aimed at preventing or slowing deterioration include repair of tears, correction of canvas distortions and consolidation of flaking paint.  Restorations may also be performed when the aesthetic appearance of the painting and the intention of the artist have been compromised, and can include the removal of discoloured surface coatings and the filling and retouching of loss.

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The rectangular shape on the subject’s face is a cleaning test which reveals the original colour of the composition beneath, 2012, Photograph by Katherine Campbell. © Te Papa

 

One of the paintings that underwent conservation before the exhibition was Mrs Humphrey Devereux painted by John Singleton Copley in 1771.  The varnish layer on this portrait, applied in the 1960’s during a previous conservation treatment, had diminished the tonal ranges of the work as it became very degraded and matte over time, therefore requiring removal.  The varnish removed from the portrait was very dark yellow and quite thick and it took several weeks to complete the removal using a solvent mixture arrived at through a testing regime to ensure its effectiveness without any damage to the underlying paint. 

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Before varnish removal, 2012, Photograph by Katherine Campbell. © Te Papa

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Removal of the old varnish had a dramatic effect on the overall colour, balance and depth of the painting, 2012, Photograph by Katherine Campbell. © Te Papa

 

The painting was re-varnished with a clear, synthetic resin to emulate the original surface.  The varnish selected is one that has been developed specifically for the conservation profession and is known to be stable and reversible which ensures that any future cleaning will not need to be repeated for a long time and if it does eventually become necessary, it can be done with the least possible intervention. The final part of the treatment was to carry out inpainting or retouching over the areas of old damage and then a final layer of varnish was sprayed onto the painting before it was refitted into its frame.

Mrs Humphrey Devereux; 1771; Copley, John Singleton. After treatment, 2012, photograph by Kate Whitley © Te Papa

By Katherine Campbell | Posted in Art, Conservation, History | Also tagged , , | Comments (1)

Unforgettable: Michael Parekowhai’s ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’

8 September 2012 – 6.03pm

If you live in the Wellington region then I really hope you’ll come to Te Papa and visit Michael Parekowhai’s On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer, which is on show on Level 5 until 23 September 2012.

Rather than describing my own experience of these works, I thought I’d share with you some of our visitors’ comments instead…

Hear Courtney Johnston talking about it on Radio NZ.

Excerpt from a letter to the editor from Wellington’s Capital Times, 5 September:

My ten year old boy and I visited Te Papa while the beautiful Steinway, carved, inlaid and painted to within a semi – quaver of its life, was being played. Have you ever seen the insides, let alone put your head beneath the lid (and under the watchful “Don’t Touch!” gaze of the attendants) of a grand piano, as Chopin is being played? We neither. Until today!  

The beautifully played music (thanks Ariana Odermatt) and the applied imagination of Parekowhai filled the exhibition space, as it did my body, mind and heart. This installation reflects and celebrates my understanding of bi- culture. Far out! Kia ora! 

Tom White, Island Bay (abridged).

Find out more about the exhibition and about a special event next Thursday night.

If you’ve already seen the works and want to share your response, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Sarah Farrar

Curator of Contemporary Art

By Sarah Farrar | Posted in Art, Collections Online, Events, Exhibitions, Museums, Māori, News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

New exhibition of ceramics, glass and metalwork opens this Saturday

18 July 2012 – 10.42am

Te Papa shares the story of modern design through the collection of ceramics, glass and metalwork gifted by Wellingtonian Walter Cook. Featuring selected objects, the new exhibition, Walter Cook: a collector’s quest opens this Saturday on Level 6.

Flower dish, about 1906. WMF, Germany. Te Papa

Flower dish, about 1906. WMF, Germany. Te Papa

Walter Cook’s first purchase initiated him into what he called ‘the addictive habit and thrill of hunting quarry in second-hand shops’. During the years between 1961 and about 1991, he built up a collection which reflects the second hand and antique market in Wellington that is now of national importance.

“The collection was put together in the days before online sales and provides a clear picture of the antique dealers’ arena specifically in Wellington during that time.” says Justine Olsen, Decorative Arts and Design Curator at Te Papa. Many of these dealerships have since closed but can still be remembered by some Wellingtonians.

Walter Cook was a passionate, well read collector who sought out objects with broad ranging international connections. Pieces in the collection, which feature in the exhibition range from the Arts and Crafts movement ceramics to German art-nouveau pewter and Scandinavian modern design.

Dish. 1883. Designed by William De Morgan, England. Te Papa

Dish. 1883. Designed by William De Morgan, England. Te Papa

A wonderful example of the Arts and Crafts movement is a De Morgan ceramic dish from 1883, which features a striking hand-painted red design. Over the years, Walter developed quite the discerning eye and managed to find a Linthorpe Pottery jug by industrial designer, Christopher Dresser while in a junk shop in Auckland.

Walter and his wife Adriann gifted the collection to Te Papa in 1992 and this exhibition marks the 20th anniversary of the gift.

Read more and explore the objects in this exhibition

By Roxan Mathys | Posted in Art, Exhibitions, News | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

New Exhibiton – Oceania: Early Encounters at Te Papa

3 August 2011 – 11.55am

This coming Saturday, 6 August 2011 is the opening of the combined Oceania exhibition between Te Papa and Wellington City Gallery.

For more information about both exhibitions and events see http://www.oceania.org.nz/pages/default.aspx

Te Papa’s exhibition titled Early Encounters will showcase a range of taonga and objects from History, Maori, Pacific Cultures, Art and Natural Environment collections.

The three month long show will be open during the Rugby World Cup and is part of the Real New Zealand Festival.

Some of the Pacific Cultures collection  include:

Cope; made by Women of Gona, PNG, 1962; Purchased 1999; Te Papa; FE011266

Cope; made by Women of Gona, PNG, 1962; Purchased 1999; Te Papa; FE011266

 
Tamtam (slit drum); Vanuatu; FE010556; Te Papa

Tamtam (slit drum); Vanuatu; FE010556; Te Papa

 
Tivaevae taorei; FE011982; Purchased 2007; Te Papa

Tivaevae taorei; FE011982; Purchased 2007; Te Papa

By Safua Akeli | Posted in Collections Online, Events, Exhibitions, Pacific | Also tagged , , | Comments (2)

April 1921: This month last century

27 April 2011 – 2.58pm
 

 

Model Tooth (Human), 1900s, Maker unknown. Gift of the Wellington School Dental Service Training School, Department of Health, 1994. Te Papa
Model Tooth (Human), 1900s, Maker unknown. Gift of the Wellington School Dental Service Training School, Department of Health, 1994. Te Papa
 90 years ago: the first intake of School Dental Service nurses began their training (4 April 1921).
 
The School Dental Service was a response to the dreadful condition of recruits’ teeth observed by dentists in the Army Dental Corps during WWI. Colonel Hunter, leader of the Corps, returned from war prepared to wage another one against the nation’s appalling dental health.
 
He devised a scheme of free preventative dental health care for primary school children. This scheme would be administered by the Education Department and implemented by specially trained dental nurses. 
 
Early intervention and dental education would see an end to the terrible state of the nation’s teeth. The Minister of Education declared that the dental nurses ‘would be privileged to take part in the task of eradicating this great evil’. 
 
In December 1920, newspapers advertised places for 30 probationer dental nurses. In April, 35 out of the 120 applicants began their two-year training programe. To begin with, the trainees used equipment that had been used by the Dental Corps during the previous war. 29 finished their training in 1923. That year, the country’s first school dental clinic opened in HawkesBay. By 1965, 1116 clinics were operating under the supervision of 1045 dental nurses.
 
Visiting the ‘Murder House’, as dental clinics came to be known, was an experience shared by generations of New Zealand children. Eventually the service was transferred to the Department of Health but was wound up in the early 1990s. A collection of equipment, uniforms and teaching material from the Wellington training school was transferred to Te Papa after it closed.
 
Check out Collections Online for examples from the School Dental Service collection.
 
Go to the Slice of Heaven mini-site to read more about the importance of dental health in New Zealand’s programme of social welfare.
By Kirstie Ross | Posted in Collections Online, Exhibitions, History, Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)

February 1950: This month last century

23 February 2011 – 5.48pm

Empire Games are held in Auckland, 4-11 February 1950

1950 Empire Games commemorative cup, 1950, Crown Lynn Potteries Ltd (1948–1991), Shufflebotham, Ernest (1908–1984), Auckland. Purchased 1998 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa

1950 Empire Games commemorative cup, 1950, Crown Lynn Potteries Ltd (1948–1991), Shufflebotham, Ernest (1908–1984), Auckland. Purchased 1998 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa

The cup above was produced by Crown Lynn as a souvenir of the Auckland games, which 590 athletes from 12 nations attended.  

New Zealand came third in the medal tally with 54 medals: 10 gold, 22 silver and 22 bronze. Golds were won in boxing, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming, weightlifting, and athletics.

Yvette Williams won a gold medal in the long jump. Two years later at Helsinki in Finland, she became the first New Zealand woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

The Empire Games were first held in Canada in 1930. Since then they have been held every four years, although there was a 12-year gap gap after 1938 due to the Second World War. They are now called the Commonwealth Games and sometimes ‘The Friendly Games’.

The countries that compete in the games are members of the British Commonwealth, previously known as the British Empire. New Zealand, as a member of both, has been present every time the games have been held.

Empire Games medal, 1934, Phillips, F. England. Gift of Douglas Crump, 2009. Te Papa

Empire Games medal, 1934, Phillips, F. England. Gift of Douglas Crump, 2009. Te Papa

The bronze medal above was awarded to swimmer Noel Crump at the second games held in London in 1934, when he came third in the 100 yards freestyle event.

New Zealand hosted the tenth Commonwealth Games in Christchurch in 1974. These games were televised and reached a wide audience who enjoyed colour on their tv sets for the first time.  There was also an official Games pop song, ‘Join Together’, which reached no. 2 on the pop charts.

Coasters, ’Xth British Commonwealth Games’, 1974, Maker unknown, New Zealand. Gift of Jan Sammons, 2008. Te Papa

Coasters, ’Xth British Commonwealth Games’, 1974, Maker unknown, New Zealand. Gift of Jan Sammons, 2008. Te Papa

The distinctive games logo was created by Wellington designer Colin Simon. It cleverly referenced NZ, X (the Roman numeral for 10), and the Union Jack (Britain’s flag). The logo appeared on official team uniforms and souvenirs alike.

Auckland hosted the Games again in 1990. These were New Zealand’s most successful, in terms of the number of medals won.

The 1990 games were part of New Zealand’s sesquicentennial. This was the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which saw New Zealand become a colony and part of the British Empire.

Read more about New Zealand and its relationship with the British Empire in Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa. 

By Kirstie Ross | Posted in Collections Online, History, Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (4)

January 1957 and 1958: This month last century

25 January 2011 – 4.30pm

53 years ago – Sir Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole (4 January 1958)

54 years ago – Scott Base opens in Antarctica (20 January 1957)

Having reached the summit of Everest with Tenzing Sherpa in 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary completed another extreme feat in January 1958. Early in the New Year, as New Zealanders were soaking up the summer sun, Hillary and four others were freezing at the South Pole.

Hillary’s party was the first to reach the Pole overland since Captain Scott’s tragic expedition in 1912. (The picture below commemorates the tragedy.)

GH006842 Embroidered picture about 1912 embroidered by Private A Cridge. Te Papa

Hillary and his team had travelled there in modified Massey Ferguson tractors and were the first people to reach the southern-most point on the globe by motor vehicle.

Sir Edmund was in Antarctica as the leader of the New Zealand section of the privately organised Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1955-1958. The overall leader was Dr Vivian Fuchs, a British explorer.

The New Zealanders were charged with setting up a base in McMurdo Sound. The result was Scott Base, New Zealand’s permanent research station. It opened on 20 January 1957 to support the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition and New Zealand scientists attached to the expedition who were also involved in the International Geophysical Year (IGY)1957-58.  (Another base for the IGY was located at Cape Hallett – see the painting below.)

1958-0007-1; Hallet Bay, Antarctica; Peter McIntyre. Te Papa. Purchased 1958 with T G Macarthy Trust funds

Hillary’s team was tasked with laying out food and fuel depots for Fuchs’s party which was to cross the Antarctic continent from Shackleton Base over on the Weddell Sea to Scott Base via the South Pole.

But ignoring instructions, Hillary and his team kept on going, ‘hell-bent for the Pole – God willing and crevasses permitting’. They reached their target on 4 January 1958. Over two weeks later, Fuchs and his party arrived at the Pole.

The Commonwealth-sponsored expedition successfully completed the overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole, on 2 March 1958. The journey had taken Fuchs 99 days.

Hillary’s independent ‘dash to the pole’ was criticised by some observers, who thought he put adventure ahead of other, scientific aims. However, Fuchs remained on good terms with Hillary, even though the Kiwi mountaineer had pipped him at the post. And Hillary remained an international hero, the conqueror of Everest.

CT.033011 Sir Edmund Hillary 1960s-80s. Photograph by Brian Brake. Gift of Wai-man Lau 2001. Te Papa

Read more about Hillary and his 1953 achievement in Slice of Heaven.

Read more about Hillary in Antarctica on NZHistory.net.nz

By Kirstie Ross | Posted in History, Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (0)
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