Members of Te Papa’s whānau recently established an informal Takatāpui Rainbow Sharing group. The group is open to all Te Papa kaimahi and acts as a hub to share information on collections and upcoming events (internal and external) relating to our various communities. To mark this year’s Wellington Pride Festival Tū Whakahīhī e Te Whanganui-ā-Tara (3–17 September) some of our members have written about what Pride means to them.Read more
Sixty years ago, on 27 May 1962, a group of sixteen men met at a house on The Terrace in central Wellington to discuss forming what would become New Zealand’s first documented homosexual organisation – the Dorian Society. Gareth Watkins shares more of the story of some of the peopleRead more
We look after a large collection here at Te Papa and with that comes a lot of data. With many of our teams wanting various information about our collections as a spreadsheet – preferably with thumbnail images – we’re always looking at how we can streamline requests. Collections Data Manager GarethRead more
Collections Data Manager Gareth Watkins describes how an LGBTI rainbow artwork by the famous flag maker Gilbert Baker has found a home at Te Papa.Read more
Forty years ago saw the first media reports of HIV/AIDS. Te Papa’s Gareth Watkins reflects on the timeline of the pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history, which sees a number of significant anniversaries in the coming weeks.Read more
Te Papa team member Gareth Watkins describes how a community and whānau transformed an early AIDS activist’s wooden graveside cross into a permanent memorial.Read more
Collections Data Technician Gareth Watkins finds a series of photographs from the 1800s where a combination of movement and long exposure has created unusual, ghostly scenes.Read more
Today is Pink Shirt Day, “a day about working together to stop bullying by celebrating diversity”. Collections Data Technician Gareth Watkins talks about the significance of the day, and finding strength in our collections.Read more
A look at improvements we’ve made recently to digitise our collections faster, including some of the gems we’ve uncovered so far.Read more
Working in a museum is filled with unexpected discoveries – especially when you’re looking at photographs from 100 years ago. Explore the life of an avid photographer whose photographs offered something different from the norm.Read more
If you look close enough you might find things you missed, and uncover characters hidden in plain sight.Read more
A look at the series of events that led to fashion label Starfish’s closure in 2013.Read more
“It’s my product. It’s my vision. It’s my dream. It’s my life,” writes Laurie Foon, founder of the Starfish fashion label in the late 1990s.Read more
It’s not every day that you get to delve into the nitty-gritty details of a fashion label. Te Papa’s assistant archivist Gareth Watkins is going through Starfish’s archive, recently gifted to Te Papa.Read more
