‘Frown for the camera’: The unsettling gaze of the New Zealand wars wounded
2018-04-11
Summer scholar Caitlin Lynch has taken a particular interest in a number of photos featuring soldiers badly wounded in battle.Read more
Shades of blue: Mode & Methodology takes inspiration from the national art collection
2018-03-15
In celebration of Toi Art’s opening on 17 March, we asked Megan from Mode & Methodology to come up with looks inspired by works in the national art collection. Here is the first, inspired by Sing Tai Wong’s Man in the mountains. Read more
Playing Sherlock: How a chair unlocked the story behind a portrait of a New Zealand wars soldier
2018-03-02
Summer scholar Caitlin Lynch has taken a particular interest in a 19th-century portrait of New Zealand wars soldier Frederick Rowan that we knew very little about. Caitlin describes how a breakthrough clue, in the form of an ornate chair, led to the intriguing story of the solider’s facial disfiguration and reconstruction.Read more
Rongowhakaata: Borrowing from iwi to build the exhibition
2018-02-16
If you’ve ever wondered what’s involved when museums loan and borrow taonga, you’re in luck: our Loans and Acquisitions Advisor Amy Cosgrove sheds light on the process behind Ko Rongowhakaata: The Story of Light and Shadow, as well as revealing an ‘average’ day.Read more
Remembering Te Papa’s opening day
2018-02-14
20 years ago today, on 14 February 1998, Te Papa opened its doors for the first time. The day was marked by food, music, and celebration. Hay bales laid out on the forecourt lent the occasion a rural, and particularly Kiwi, flavour. New Zealand bands entertained the huge crowds. The sun shone, and the wind blew. Author Conal McCarthy, history curator Stephanie Gibson, and ex-staff member Lauren McEwan-Nugent share their memories from the day. Read more
Condoms, critics, and controversies: Te Papa’s early days
2018-02-10
14 Feb marks ours 20th anniversary. Author of ‘Te Papa: Reinventing New Zealand’s national museum’ Conal McCarthy retells some of the early criticisms, controversies, and protests when we opened in 1998.Read more
Pasifika on top: your most viewed objects of 2017
2018-01-18
In 2017 you viewed 200,000 of our Collections Online objects. We take a look at the top 10 most popular, of which 60% relate to Pacific culture.Read more
Cigarette packets and chocolate boxes: How we used to store our collections
2018-01-08
Storing collections in the right space and environment is incredibly important in museums – so would you be surprised to see natural history specimens stored in colourful vintage cigarette packets? Curator Alan Tennyson and conservator Robert Clendon shed light on past practice. Modern museum storage involves rows and rows ofRead more
Te reo Kiwi: Are you using Māori every day?
2017-12-19
Te Papa is always looking for creative ways to promote te reo Māori. What are some of the ways we’re doing that?Read more
Cross-pollination experiments with one of New Zealand’s rarest trees
2017-12-07
When an incredibly rare native tree – the Bartlett’s rātā – flowered for the first time in a quarter-century, Botany curator Carlos Lehnebach was ready with his tweezers. Bartlett’s rātā is one of the most threatened trees in New Zealand. It’s also one of our rarest species, with only 13Read more
Big Ted to Rita Angus: Gems uncovered while revamping Collections
2017-09-26
We asked the team working on the new Collections Online website to share their favourite objects and images they’ve found along the way and tell us a little bit about working on this massive project.Read more
Students give our store windows the WOW factor
2017-09-18
When the World of Wearable Arts show is in town we like to join the festivities by handing over our shop windows to students from Wellington High School and Queen Margaret College. The year 13 fashion and materials technology students display their own striking wearable art creations as part of their course.Read more