Eight people are looking at a tapa costume in a glass case. One of the people is talking about it.

In 2021, with the Te Papa Foundation’s support, Te Papa acquired a rare book of tapa cloth samples, one of many assembled by Alexander Shaw in 1787. At the wānanga in 2023, artists were given the opportunity to respond to the Shaw book and exchange knowledge between tapa experts from acrossRead more

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A paua shell attached to a large silver finger ring on a white background.

Collections Online hosts over a million items from Te Papa’s collection, each with its own unique story. As part of an internship exploring how blackfoot pāua are represented in Te Papa, Sara Joyce Macdonald highlights a few collection items showing the varied uses of pāua and the importance of that unique taonga to Aotearoa New Zealand.Read more

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A watercolour of a garden with a lot of flowering plants in it.

As part of a summer research project, Lucia Adams from Botany and Annie Barnard from Art worked with Te Papa’s collection of Nancy Adams’ works. Annie and Lucia digitised botanical specimens that Adams collected, enriched catalogue records of her artworks and archival material, and did research and writing about her work and influence. They took a series of field trips to sites that were important in Nancy’s life and work. Here is the third and final in a series of blogs documenting these trips.Read more

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Lya Riley passed away on 18 May, 2024, aged 103. In 2022, Lya generously gifted Te Papa a collection of treasures from her early years in Austria and her married life in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here, Curator New Zealand Histories and Cultures Katie Cooper shares some of Lya’s story and looks back on a very special day spent with Lya and her whānau.Read more

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On 13 March 2024, Te Papa Press launched Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa a book developed in partnership with iwi, which delves into Te Papa’s Mātauranga Māori, History, and Art collections to explore taonga and objects intimately connected with the key events and players associated with the New Zealand Wars. Here, the authors – Curator Mātauranga Māori Matiu Baker (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Whakaue), Curator New Zealand Histories and Cultures Katie Cooper, Research Associate Michael Fitzgerald, and Curator Historical New Zealand Art Rebecca Rice – answer ten questions about the book and the mahi involved to publish it.Read more

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A black and white photograph of the lower half of a person holding two handfuls of seaweed that are long strings of bobbles.

As part of a summer research project, Lucia Adams from Botany and Annie Barnard from Art are working with Te Papa’s collection of Nancy Adams’ works. Annie and Lucia are digitising botanical specimens that Nancy collected, enriching catalogue records of her artworks and archival material, and doing research and writing about her work and influence. They are taking a series of field trips to sites that were important in Nancy’s life and work, as well as interviewing people who were important in Nancy’s life.Read more

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A sepia photo of a woman in a swimming costume sitting on a wet sandy beach.

As part of a summer research project, Lucia Adams from Botany and Annie Barnard from Art are working with Te Papa’s collection of Nancy Adams’ works. Annie and Lucia will be digitising botanical specimens that Adams collected, enriching catalogue records of her artworks and archival material, and doing research and writing about her work and influence. They are taking a series of field trips to sites that were important in Nancy’s life and work. Here is the first in a series of blogs documenting these trips.Read more

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Pat was a stalwart of the museum, beginning in 1977. He was a curator of botany and expert on New Zealand ferns. But he was so much more, including curating Te Papa’s stamp collection, and at various times managing the natural history team and the museum’s acquisitions process. Significantly, he was a role-model, mentor, and friend to many. This blog is a tribute to his wide-ranging contributions to Te Papa and its people.Read more

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Leslie Adkin (1888–1964) was a farmer by profession, based in Levin. He pursued geology and archaeology, enjoyed exploring and tramping, while photographing and diarising these adventures meticulously. A more detailed biography of Adkin can be found on Te Ara. Art intern Annie Barnard is an Art History student at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Her internship was completed as part of her Honours year. Here she talks about her mahi working with some of his albums and diaries.Read more

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The Ockham Lecture series is an annual programme of lectures and panel discussions that critically engage with craft, design, and architecture. Director of Audience and Insight Puawai Cairns recently presented her Ockham Lecture in connection to Tīhāte!, a project in the Objectspace exhibition Pohewa Pāhewa: a Māori design kaupapa which demonstrates how t-shirt design outcome is used by Māori to show affiliations, share protest messages, and commemorate important moments. Puawai is a co-author of the book Protest Tautohetohe: Objects of Resistance, Persistence and Defiance, along with Curator History Stephanie Gibson, and then Curator Mātauranga Māori Matariki Williams. Here we’re reproducing some of her kōrero from the lecture as well as contributions from Stephanie Gibson about some of the tees that are featured in the book and why museums collect them as taonga.Read more

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