The ‘Berry Boys’ began as an internal nickname for the men depicted in Te Papa’s collection of soldier portraits by the Wellington photography studio Berry & Co. Amongst the soldiers, however, are some anomalies.  Flicking through the collection on mass, something about a couple of soldier portraits demanded a closer inspection. The bodyRead more

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In: Art, History, Photography

This week’s wearable is by Sally Spackman, a recent graduate from Massey University’s fashion design degree. Made from hundreds, if not thousands of coiled pine needles, the spiralled forms that make up Powelliphanta Pine are inspired by the beautiful shells of New Zealand’s powelliphanta snails – the ‘giants of theRead more

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This week’s wearable continues on last week’s theme of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and hopefully encourages you all to bee supportive! Bee Supporters is the clever handi-work of Andi Regan,who seeks to transform and find beauty in the discarded and everyday. ‘The whole No 8 wire philosophy inspires me. IRead more

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In: Art, History

Wendy Kaplan is Department Head and Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Wendy is a leading expert on late 19th to mid 20th-century design, and one of the co-curators of California Design, 1930–1965: Living in a Modern Way, which was recently onRead more

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A selection of photographs of girls taken in New Zealand during the nineteenth century from Te Papa’s photography collection in honour of International Girl Day. Most of the photographs featured are carte-de-visite cards and are not much bigger than they appear in this blog. All the girls in these photographs wereRead more

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In: Art, Education, Photography

As October is Breast Cancer Month this week’s fabulous wearable takes the form a bizarre but very thoughtful bra – its Lynn Christiansen’s The Abbey of St Brassiere. The witty and outrageous Bizarre Bra™ section has been a firm favourite with WOW® entrants and audiences since it was established inRead more

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Whale’s tooth on a braided necklace

The first-ever Fiji language week begins today with the theme Noqu Vosa, Noqu iYau Talei: My Language, My Treasure. The Pacific Cultures curators will be blogging daily with Fiji-related stories from the collections and exhibitions at Te Papa. This is a tabua, a type of Fijian cultural valuable, made fromRead more

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In: Art, Pacific

Over 100 WOW® fans crammed into Te Papa’s Eyelight’s Gallery last Saturday to hear the maker of this week’s wearable speak. Its Bells for Her by Sean Purucker. Sean Purucker lives in LA where he works as a costume fabricator. He grew up, however in Alaska. Bells For Her harks back toRead more

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In 1883, Monet moved to the village of Giverny, downstream along the Seine from Vétheuil, retreating further from the hustle and bustle of modern life in Paris. In the late 1880s increased sales of his work through the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel’s gallery enabled him to purchase a house and modestRead more

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Over the past six weeks we have been having some serious problems with StoryPlace…. Before every session, it would miraculously lose all its colour!! Luckily, our young visitors and their caregivers were kind enough to help to collect enough red, blue and yellow to remedy the situation. Did you knowRead more

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In: Art, Education

Wellington has moved into full WOW® mode this week, and Te Papa is in the midst of the whirlwind. Yesterday morning we welcomed 50 international WOW® designers onto Te Papa’s marae, and hosted 250 designers, would-be entrants, fans and creatives at a Design Forum in the afternoon. Lynn Christiansen, the creator of thisRead more

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This blog provides an excellent opportunity not only for us to share with you, but  for you to share with each other. How do you use our museum as a learning resource? What do you find to be best practice? Why are museum and gallery experiences important for your tamariki? Our second storyRead more

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With the Aztec Family Fiesta event happening this Sunday (29th September 2013) we thought it wise to have a practice of our activities! Presenting the efforts of Audience Engagement and Te Papa Hosts: Thanks to BodyFX for the face art training! Mask creation will be occuring between 12pm – 1pm in theRead more

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In: Art, Behind the scenes

One of the sections in the current incarnation of the Ngā Toi, Arts Te Papa exhibition showcases a selection from Te Papa’s collection of Australian Aboriginal art. The show Gifted: Aboriginal Art 1971 – 2011 includes Papunya Tula paintings created in the 1970’s in a community near Alice Springs withRead more

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In: Art