It’s two days to go before we open our Kahu Ora Living Cloaks exhibition – and time to give you a little preview of what you will be able to see from Friday 8 June. When an exhibition opens and all the taonga are in place, the graphics are up, andRead more
Every exhibition I work on is different. Each time I learn more and my basket of knowledge (my kete) expands and grows. This time it’s a wonderful exhibition about Māori cloaks, which features many kākahu from Te Papa’s collection, plus a small number of unique taonga which we’re fortunate to borrow from elsewhere. Kahu Ora LivingRead more
Whakaae-whenua – a recent acquisition Part of our roles as curators is to acquire, or purchase, taonga Māori (Māori treasures) to further strengthen and develop Te Papa’s collection. When considering taonga tūturu (customary taonga) for acquisition, it’s the interesting, the novel, and the extraordinary that we tend to focus onRead more
He kanohi kitea, he hokinga mahara. To see a face is to stir the memory. On Sunday 6 May 2012, a beautiful kahu kiwi cloak from the Te Papa collection, was named by her descendants as part of a special church service held at Rongomaraeroa marae, Porangahau. Te Papa PressRead more
Arnold Manaaki Wilson 1928–2012 Ngāi Tūhoe and Te Arawa iwi (tribes) Artist Ahakoa ruarua noa o kupu i takoto Anō te rite he whakatauākī te reka I puta ai āu mahi tohungatanga I runga i te tatangi o te kī. Tirohia mai rā aku pewa I taurite tēnei ka tītokoRead more
Aotearoa New Zealand is home to a large Pasifika population. This illustrated collection of essays is the first of its kind to tell their stories – from the legendary feats of the ancestors of modern Māori, to the politically explosive dawn raids of the 1970s, and beyond. This beautiful book is lavishlyRead more
A waggley tail is among the many body parts missing from this particular dog. One of the more unusual items acquired by Te Papa recently was this mounted dog’s head, claimed to be a kurī (Māori dog). Kurī were brought to New Zealand from Polynesia by the ancestors of Māori,Read more
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been busy installing an updated selection of works in the Collecting Contemporary exhibition on Level 5. Collecting Contemporary is an exhibition featuring some of the contemporary New Zealand art works that Te Papa acquired between 2006 and 2011. Read more about CollectingRead more
I’ve only been a curator for 7 months and even if you were the brainiest most well read person in the world, a curator is really only as good as their knowledge of their museum’s collection. So in familiarising myself with the Taonga Māori collection at Te Papa, I’ve been systematically goingRead more
This year marks the bicentenary of William Colenso’s birth (1811-1899). In celebration our colleagues at the Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery, Napier are hosting a bicentennial event this coming November (9 – 13 November 2011). The aim of the bicentenary is to explore the highly complex character of Colenso ‘in the round’ –Read more
A large part of our role as Matauranga Maori curators is to constantly research and find out more about the taonga Maori that Te Papa holds. We research for exhibitions, books, and ensure as much is known about the collection as possible. However, with 35, 000 taonga, curatorial research canRead more
Alongside the plants brought from the tropical Pacific, it is thought that Māori cultivated at least a handful of New Zealand plant species. Massey University’s Lara Shepherd is investigating several such plants: karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus), rengarenga (Arthropodium cirratum), and whau (Entelea arborescens). Karaka in Te Papa’s Bush City. Karaka, rengarenga, andRead more
June is a busy month at Te Papa – it’s Matariki. And this year it’s going to be especially busy for the Education team! Our Term 2 Education programmes are fully booked this year with over 2500 students attending our Matariki education programme alone. This number includes: 916 students whoRead more
As the History Team prepares to bring out William Colenso’s magnificent printing press for the forthcoming exhibition Oceania – Early Encounters (opening 6 August 2011), I am reminded that the Hawke’s Bay Museum & Art Gallery are planning ‘to celebrate the life and ideas of Colenso – one of the fathersRead more
2011 Māori and Pacific Textile Symposium The beating of aute, or tapa, is a heartbeat that resounds across the ocean of Kiwa. The harakeke of Aotearoa, symbolising family, acknowledges the relationship of the Pacific people as one, through weaving. These genealogical and material connections will be explored at the inauguralRead more
