The ‘Berry Boys’ began as an internal nickname for the men depicted in Te Papa’s collection of soldier portraits by the Wellington photography studio Berry & Co. Amongst the soldiers, however, are some anomalies.  Flicking through the collection on mass, something about a couple of soldier portraits demanded a closer inspection. The bodyRead more

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This week’s wearable is by Sally Spackman, a recent graduate from Massey University’s fashion design degree. Made from hundreds, if not thousands of coiled pine needles, the spiralled forms that make up Powelliphanta Pine are inspired by the beautiful shells of New Zealand’s powelliphanta snails – the ‘giants of theRead more

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This week’s wearable continues on last week’s theme of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and hopefully encourages you all to bee supportive! Bee Supporters is the clever handi-work of Andi Regan,who seeks to transform and find beauty in the discarded and everyday. ‘The whole No 8 wire philosophy inspires me. IRead more

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Wendy Kaplan is Department Head and Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Wendy is a leading expert on late 19th to mid 20th-century design, and one of the co-curators of California Design, 1930–1965: Living in a Modern Way, which was recently onRead more

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As October is Breast Cancer Month this week’s fabulous wearable takes the form a bizarre but very thoughtful bra – its Lynn Christiansen’s The Abbey of St Brassiere. The witty and outrageous Bizarre Bra™ section has been a firm favourite with WOW® entrants and audiences since it was established inRead more

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Over 100 WOW® fans crammed into Te Papa’s Eyelight’s Gallery last Saturday to hear the maker of this week’s wearable speak. Its Bells for Her by Sean Purucker. Sean Purucker lives in LA where he works as a costume fabricator. He grew up, however in Alaska. Bells For Her harks back toRead more

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Wellington has moved into full WOW® mode this week, and Te Papa is in the midst of the whirlwind. Yesterday morning we welcomed 50 international WOW® designers onto Te Papa’s marae, and hosted 250 designers, would-be entrants, fans and creatives at a Design Forum in the afternoon. Lynn Christiansen, the creator of thisRead more

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‘There is a whole world inside me. I often dream of something deep and colourful which moves and which is very mysterious. There are many corners, strange places, folds and holes. I have an enormous need to express that world.’ Marjolein Dallinga I love the above quote from Marjolein Dallinga.Read more

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One of the best things about working in the cultural sector is getting to meet amazing people. Dame Suzie Moncrieff, the founder of the World of WearableArt™, is just one of those people – gutsy, visionary and determind. This week we get to share her. On Saturday 21 September fromRead more

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On 24 August, 2013 The WOW Factor, which celebrates 25 years of the WearableArt™ Awards, opened to the public. The exhibition features over 25 fantastic garments from the award’s history, and for the next 25 weeks I am going to endeavour to post a ‘Wearable of the Week’. ‘The Wearables’Read more

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Chilean curator Roberta Bacic is a keynote speaker at the Third International Visual Methods conference in Wellington hosted by Victoria University and Te Papa. We are fortunate to also have her speak on the fascinating and politically-significant stories of arpilleras.     Arpilleras – tapestries or quilts sewn by womenRead more

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12.51pm today marks the second anniversary of the 6.3 earthquake that caused severe damage and resulted in the loss of 185 lives in Christchurch and its suburbs, with many more injured and displaced. Two years on the citizens of Canterbury are still struggling to rebuild their city and lives. WhileRead more

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In: History