The We Are Not Your Dusky Maidens! project began with Flora: Celebrating Our Botanical World, a trans-curatorial publication exploring Te Papa’s botanical collections. Published in 2023, the book drew connections between plants, people, and place, led through the collaborative work of Te Papa editors and curators Rebecca Rice (Art), ClaireRead more
Arts writer Ioana Gordon-Smith (New Zealand, Sāmoa) lives in Porirua and currently works as Lead Curator at Pātaka Art+Museum. Here, Ioana responds to the legacy of the trope of the Dusky Maiden as well as Te Papa’s short films from We Are Not Your Dusky Maidens! The illusion of theseRead more
Flowers are a central part of Pacific identity – especially for women. Archival representations of women and flowers centre on the trope of the Dusky Maiden. However, Professor Yvonne Underhill-Sem (Nga Pu Toru, Alofi North) shows that Pacific women are reclaiming their relation to flowers, and in the process, revealingRead more
Curator Māori Moana at Pātaka Jacki Leota-Mua discusses what flowers have represented to her over her life and responds to We Are Not Your Dusky Maidens!, a series of five short films interviewing Pasifika women on the trope of the sensual ‘Dusky Maiden’ and the significance of flower culture inRead more
Te Papa’s orchid specialist Carlos Lehnebach and research technician Jennifer Alderton-Moss from the Lions Ōtari Plant Conservation Lab are celebrating a major breakthrough after the threatened swamp greenhood orchid blooms for the first time in cultivation, marking a significant milestone for conservation and recovery efforts. The swamp greenhood orchid (PterostylisRead more
Bug of the Year was created to celebrate the spectacular and often overlooked invertebrates of New Zealand. Backed by Te Papa, Collection Technician Invertebrates Shaun Thomson talks about one of this year’s nominees – a tiny fly with a jewel-like shimmer and a life cycle that borders on the unbelievable.Read more
Last year, the Public Programming team embarked on a new area of programming for kaumātua, for people over 65. This was developed in collaboration with Age Concern staff and participants from a range of their groups to create tailored experiences that provide spaces for connection, knowledge sharing, and learning. Public Programming specialist Catherine Ayres, and Public Programming specialist – Kaupapa Māori Lucy Schrader-Manuera share their reflections on the programme.Read more
In the public sphere, the more ‘flashy’ parts of palaeontology tend to get all the press – excavating fossils in exotic locations and publishing new scientific discoveries. But equally important is how the fossils are cared for, so they are available for research and display, both now and long into the future.Read more
Earlier this year, Te Waipounamu iwi Kāi Tahu invited a group of its iwi members to join with Archaeology students from Otago University to take part in their first hands-on dig in Moeraki. Te Papa Host and Assistant Visitor Services Manager Robbie Titchener was on that dig and shares some of the experiences here. Read more
Curator Botany Leon Perrie was recently part of a panel that, for the first time, assessed the conservation status of all the mosses in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here, he introduces a few species you can report if you see them when you’re next mingling with moss. There are about 500Read more
The South Island kōkako is an elusive forest bird, famed for its haunting call. Despite numerous reported sightings over the past 50 years, no definitive evidence to prove its survival – such as a specimen, photograph, or droppings – has been found since 1937. In 1986, a feather discovered onRead more
From 6 to 11 January this year, Mātauranga Māori Curator Dr Amber Aranui dusted off her excavation gear and joined Dr Monica Tromp and three Otago University students for a community-based archaeological excavation at Butler Point in Hihi. The excavation was led by Dr Justin Maxwell and Dr Jennifer HuebertRead more
For the last few months, Master’s student Manon Verdello has been working with the Mātauranga Māori team on the Acknowledging our Colonial Past project. A part of her internship at Te Papa was to work on reconciling the original collection records from the 1860s to the current collection database. Here,Read more
On the morning of Thursday 16 of October, Curator Vertebrates Alan Tennyson came in and asked Curator Fishes Andrew Stewart if he knew anything about the fish lying out in the carpark up at the Tory Street building. Worried that it might be a collection item, they went out andRead more
Collections technician and PhD student Shaun Thompson has spent several years working with curators Julia Kasper and Phil Sirvid to study one of the most unusual and elusive groups of flies in Aotearoa New Zealand. He aims to create comprehensive species descriptions and distribution records of the Acroceridae, or “small-headedRead more
