[This article was originally published in Te Papa newsletter, Te Auahi Turoa newsletter (3 July 2015) and has been reproduced here.] Kimihia, rangahaua, kei hea koutou ka ngaro nei? Tēnā ka riro ki Paerau, ki te huinga o Matariki, ka oti atu koutou e! Tangihia rā Te Ope Tuatahi iRead more
In our second blog ahead of our new exhibition Gallipoli: The scale of our war opening on April 18, Māori curator Puawai Cairns reveals some of her research into a Māori soldier that served at Gallipoli. Unlike many of the other Māori soldiers I researched for this exhibition, 2nd LieutenantRead more
Kia ora koutou Last month I gave a talk at a TedX conference in Tauranga where I discussed some of the research I’ve undertaken as part of our exhibition development project here for an exhibition about Gallipoli (due to open April next year at Te Papa). I’ve been very busy assemblingRead more
In honour of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, here are a number of kupu Māori (Māori words) that I constantly use in my everyday mahi/work as a curator at Te Papa, and especially in my research for the First World War exhibition we are presently developing. Many of the sources written inRead more
Yesterday marked a huge day of commemorative activity in Tauranga to signify the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Pukehinahina /Gate Pā, and here in Wellington, Te Papa also contributed to the commemorations. The museum flew a replica of the Gate Pa flag from its main flagpoles to acknowledge theRead more
“The Battle of Gate Pa was arguably the most important battle of the New Zealand Wars, in terms of both its political effects and its wider implications for military technology. Historians have failed to appreciate its full significance because the contemporary British interpretations, on which they rely, were dominated byRead more
It is an unusual thing as any researcher can tell, to feel you know a place with great familiarity through in-depth reading and research but when visiting that place for real, find that no amount of reading will ever compensate for actually standing there in person. That’s the reaction IRead more
“Matariki Ahunga Nui – Matariki is a provider of abundant resources” This recent acquisition (purchased June 2013) is a tukutuku tūrapa, or panel named ‘Matariki’. It was woven to acknowledge the Maori New Year by master weaver Sonia Snowden (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Whātua, Ngā Puhi). It is made of kiekie, pīngao ,Read more
“Whakanuia te Tau Hou Māori ki te Taiopenga o Matariki ki Te Papa. I tēnei tau ka whai tātou i te kōrero mō te whakarauora o Matariki rātou ko āna tamāhine i a Tama-nui-i-te-rā. Ko te mana whakaora tēnei o te ira wahine, o te ira tupua, o ngā whetūRead more
This past Saturday (1 December 2012), we had a special request from a group of visitors who were going to be in Wellington for a weekend. They wished to come in and talk to some of the curators and see the collection. This is relatively common but what was slightlyRead more
I’ve been asked a lot of questions about why some of the new acquisitions were pursued and why they were put into this show, so hopefully this entry will help answer some of the queries and shed light on the curatorial decisions made for Uniformity. In my last blog Uniformity: WhyRead more
Most curators will be able to pick out an exhibition in their professional history that they are very fond of. And I think the exhibition I’m going to talk about in this blog is one show that will always be a bit close to my heart. On the 27th ofRead more
This is the third day of the Festival and there are way too many things and sights to properly explain. I can only give samples and highlights, and even these are too numerous to do it justice. The NZ delegation has jumped into action, performing and creating. The Festival villageRead more
Every four years, an enormous event called the Festival of Pacific Arts is held in a different part of the Pacific. It is one of the most significant pan-Pacific gatherings where island nations from across Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia meet to share their arts – customary and contemporary – andRead more
When I started writing this, it was midnight in Paris but back in NZ it was a bright cheerful 11 o’clock in the morning. I had spent 24 hours crossing from one hemisphere to the other, and was left struggling with a conflicting body clock, unfair currency conversions and aRead more
