Wednesday 15 September 2010 marks the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the first major campaign fought entirely by airforces. Kiwi Air Vice-Marshal Sir Keith Park played an important role in the defence of London and south-east England. A statue of Sir Keith was recently unveiled in London’s Trafalgar Square inRead more
Installation of Te Papa’s new history exhibition Slice of Heaven – Twentieth Century Aotearoa continues – 29 days to go until opening on 2 October 2010… The views from the bridge on Level 5 give a taste of what’s to come and the topics that the exhibition will explore. Here is something evoking theRead more
As many of you know, Phar Lap is on his way back to Melbourne for the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Cup to take place later this year. Phar Lap was foaled on 4 October 1926 in Seadown, near Timaru on the South Island of New Zealand. Bought byRead more
When I got to work this morning, this was waiting for me: A few weeks back, we asked pupils from some of the schools in New Zealand to send us a postcard telling them why they love their town for our Conservation Week display. This year the theme is WeRead more
Changes are underway at Te Papa. The build for the new history exhibition Slice of Heaven – Twentieth Century Aotearoa has started. In under one months time, on 2 October 2010, the exhibition will open to the public. The walls around the space have been up for a while but things are now really startingRead more
On Tuesday 20 July 2010 Gus Fisher ONZM passed away at the age of 89. While many people today recognise Gus Fisher as one of the country’s most generous and enthusiastic arts patron Gus first rose to national prominence in the world of high fashion. Gus Fisher was the creativeRead more
Hello all! Welcome to my first post here on the Te Papa Blog. My name is Cindy Lee and I’m an intern working in the Object’s Conservation Lab at the Tory Street Conservation Laboratories. This internship is a part of my degree requirements for my Masters Degree in Archaeological andRead more
The 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours list included Samoan-born font designer Joseph Churchward. Since the 1960s, Churchward has hand-created over 570 typefaces (fonts), the greatest number designed by any individual in the world. Click on the image to watch the video interview with Churchward on TVNZ: As a way of documentingRead more
Smack bang in the middle of Matariki, the Maori New Year and all the creative (indoor!) activities that are taking place at the Matariki Festival at Te Papa, World Refugee Day is one of our key times to celebrate and discuss the diversity of our beautiful people and places, and theRead more
Jeff Thomson’s corrugated iron HQ Holden has been on display at Te Papa since the museum first opened in 1998 but, on Tuesday 25 May, the car will be moving to our collection storage area for a well-earned rest. The car is being moved so a new long-term history exhbition can be built onRead more
Have a look at this picture of New Zealand’s rarest stamp – see anything unusual about it? It’s a bit hard to see because of the post marks but the centre scene is actually upside down. It’s known as the Taupo Invert and it’s the only survivor out of theRead more
For the last few months, the Pacific team have been auditing the Niue collection, where objects are photographed, and the catalogue record updated. Niue also known as Nuku-tu-taha is located between Tonga and the Cook Islands. We had an enquiry from a scholar who was researching throwing techniques, and wasRead more
On Saturday 10th April Te Papa opened The Mixing Room, stories from young refugees in New Zealand to the contributors, their families and of course the public. Over 250 people gathered from Nelson, Hamilton, Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Palmerston North in the Wellington Foyer and the Red Couches meeting room to eagerlyRead more
There has been some debate about the pose of the mounted skeleton of Phar Lap on display at Te Papa. Using digital photographs, an image of the skeleton has been superimposed over photos of Phar Lap and used to “prove” that the skeleton has been mounted incorrectly. http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/features/pharlap-168.shtml Unfortunately, the image of the skeleton thatRead more
Phar Lap was a legendary racehorse and an adored animal hero for a generation of New Zealanders (where he was born and brought up) and Australians (where he mostly raced). After Phar Lap’s death on 6 April 1932, his owners, Mr D J Davis and Mr H R Telford, presentedRead more
