Seasonal Treasures from Te Papa In global terms, Aotearoa New Zealand is not a religiously observant nation. But we have long taken pride in being a tolerant one. Many of us thoroughly enjoy our Santa parades, carol services and, among cultural enthusiasts, full-on performances of Handel’s Messiah. It is difficultRead more
Air New Zealand’s 75th anniversary celebrations begin with a new exhibition due to open at Te Papa on the 20 December 2014; Air New Zealand 75 years: Our nation. The world. Connected. The exhibition includes a fabulous and sometimes quirky range of objects selected from Air New Zealand’s archive and TeRead more
Earlier this year over 60 visual art and art history students from Wellington region colleges attended a study day at Te Papa to learn about Colin McCahon. To open the day, Te Papa curator Rebecca Rice gave students an overview of McCahon’s life and outlined main themes in his work. Students thenRead more
I’ve said in a previous blog post that Blenheim photographer William Macey’s cabinet cards elevated the format to an art form. So I thought I had better demonstrate my point by putting together a blog of some of his best studio portraits from those in Te Papa’s photography collection. What IRead more
Te Papa recently commissioned local artist Kerry Ann Lee to make a new work for the light boxes in the Whare Toi / Art Studio space in Nga Toi / Arts Te Papa on level 5. Her work Knowledge on a beam of starlight is conceived of as ‘The Incredible DreamRead more
Recently I’ve been watching a BBC TV mini series about a doomed photography archive – Shooting the Past. The series was released in 1999 and I don’t know how I missed seeing it then but I was busy writing a dissertation on colonial photography (or maybe it didn’t even get played onRead more
Earlier this year I travelled to Auckland Art Gallery with one of Te Papa’s masterpieces, Colin McCahon’s Northland Panels, 1958, which is the centrepiece of the exhibition Modern Paints Aoteraroa. This was the first time in 25 years that the iconic painting has travelled to another institution, and the firstRead more
There is so much to admire about this beautiful ambrotype recently acquired for Te Papa’s photography collection – look at the couple’s cheeks touched up by hand in pink, their jewellery and clothing. I also like that the couple are posed in front of the photographer’s studio interior wall fitted with a dado rail (centre behindRead more
Recently I travelled to Stratford to attend the opening of Te Papa’s touring art exhibition Gordon Walters: Koru which is currently on show at the Percy Thomson Gallery. The exhibition includes a selection of the artist’s iconic koru works from the mid-1950s until the 1980s from Te Papa’s collection. ItRead more
By the Art Curators at Te Papa: Sarah Farrar, Athol McCredie, Lissa Mitchell, Chelsea Nichols, Justine Olsen, Rebecca Rice, Mark Stocker and Megan Tamati-Quennell The recent passing of Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, CNZM, (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kurī, Te Aupōuri, Pākehā), the national museum’s Head of Arts & Visual Culture, leaves not only TeRead more
Tabua (pronounced “tambua” – the b has a ‘mb’ sound) are pierced and braided whales’ teeth, originally taken from the lower jaw of sperm whales. Fijians consider them to be kavakaturanga (chiefly items). Pacific Cultures curator Sean Mallon highlights some personalised tabua from the collections.Read more
As a curator, when you develop an exhibition large or small, your heart and mind travels into this particular zone for quite some time. As the object list develops and you start to examine what is known about the objects, a case builds up for inclusion in the show. ThisRead more
One of my favourite groups of photographs in the collection is a series of carte-de-visite prints all bound together by the number ‘1933/16’. From this number we know that this small group of photographs was the 16th group of objects acquired by the Dominion Museum in 1933. We also know that they wereRead more
Every year the team at the World of WearableArt™ encourages retailers around Wellington to take part in the annual World of World of WearableArt™ Window Dressing Competition. From 22 September – 7 October 2014 you can be the judge and cast your vote for the best window in town! Simply visit WOWWindowComp.com to cast your vote [competitionRead more
Tai Tamariki Kindergaten have written this great article for the forthcoming ecARTnz magazine about their creative response to the two China exhibitions held recently at Te Papa. Our curators, Rebecca Rice and Justine Olsen were both blown away by the children’s work. I am sure you will be too! Tai Tamariki KindergartenRead more
