Tauhunu As part of Cook Islands language week we are highlighting artefacts from the Cook Islands collections. One of the treasures we look after here at Te Papa is a stunning canoe that appears at the entrance of the exhibition Tangata o le Moana: the story of Pacific people andRead more
In my previous post about the Fiji collections, I included a few images of Fijian weapons from Te Papa’s collections. In this blog post I thought I’d take the Fiji weapon story a bit further and into popular culture. Here, I just want to highlight the small contribution Fiji weapons offered toRead more
Last week we were privileged to have Rod and Bev Ewins visit the Pacific Cultures Collections. Te Papa is on a list of New Zealand and Australian museums the couple are visiting as they research collections for a new book on the material culture of Fiji. Rod is a scholar and artistRead more
To celebrate le vaiaso o le gagana Sämoa (Sämoan language week) the Pacific Cultures curators are highlighting stories related to cultural treasures from Sämoa. Today, I have selected this image of an ‘alia. In the 1800s, the most prized and finely crafted sea going vessels were alia. In terms ofRead more
To celebrate le vaiaso o le gagana Sämoa (Sämoan language week) the Pacific Cultures curators are highlighting stories related to cultural treasures from Samoa. The third collection item for this week is a nöfoaga seu lupe (pigeon netting stool) that was used in the 1800s for the sport of pigeonRead more
The Pacific Cultures team and the Art team would like to acknowledge artist and curator Jim Vivieaere who passed away a month ago after illness. Jim’s involvement with Te Papa spanned many years and several projects including Art now: the first biennial review of contemporary art (1994). Art curator Christina BartonRead more
It seems the language of the Na’vi, the indigenous people of the planet Pandora, may be the latest addition to the family tree of Pacific languages. In recent publicity surrounding James Cameron’s blockbuster film Avatar, it was revealed that the development of the Na’vi language was influenced by Maori language.Read more
Musician Pauly Fuemana died yesterday after a short illness. He was 40 years old. Pauly is from a talented family of musicians, who were pioneers in hip hop and the music industry in South Auckland. He was frontman for the group OMC (Otara Millionaires Club) but is best known forRead more
