“In these rooms you will hear the stories of our people: our origins across the Pacific, our arrival in Aotearoa, and the life we created over many generations. You will meet the leaders, heroes and guardians who have shaped who we are today. And you will discover the taonga (treasures) that connects us to our ancestors and guide us into the future.”

Te Papa is proud to be a contributor to this significant exhibition – eight impressive taonga from our collection will be on display at Rotorua Museum for the next five years.

At the same time there is another exhibition opening in a different gallery at Rotorua Museum – Blomfield in Wonderland which runs until 27 November 2011.

Charles Blomfield was strongly attracted by the native bush and began to paint pictures of the scenery. Although he had no previous training, he found he had a natural talent and soon mastered the art. From then on he painted wherever he went. Working in oils he painted his subject directly rather than recreating it in the studio from sketches. Blomfield made his name painting the famous Pink and White Terraces, which were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886.

Three of his paintings from the Te Papa collection will be on display: Bush scene; Scene of Kauri Bush, gumdiggers at work and Orakei Korako on the Waikato.