Exterior of Slice of Heaven_MA_I.210093. Te Papa

Slice of Heaven: 20th Century Aotearoa is Te Papa’s exhibition about four crucial social and political changes that occurred in New Zealand after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and before the millennial panic of ‘Y2K’ (‘Year 2000’). I hope that the exhibition, which closes on 23rd January toRead more

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In a collaboration between National Services Te Paerangi and Whanganui Regional Museum, Te Papa’s bicultural researcher Hokimate Harwood brought her extensive feather identification skills to a community of 30 weavers and bird enthusiasts earlier this year. Hokimate’s feather identification research looks to decode materials and messages within kākahu | featherRead more

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It is with sadness that we at Te Papa learned photographer Marti Friedlander passed away in Auckland on Monday 15 November. Marti was born in London of Jewish parents and emigrated to New Zealand with her Kiwi husband Gerrard in 1958. She was shocked by how conservative New Zealand wasRead more

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Former museum director John Yaldwyn specialised in crustaceans, but he also had a keen interest in extinct New Zealand birds, archaeology, and history. Te Papa turned 150 years old on 8 December 2015. To celebrate 150 years since the opening of the Colonial Museum in Wellington, the exhibition ‘You calledRead more

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Rēkohu kōpi grove. Kōpi is the Moriori word for karaka. Photograph by Nirmala Balram. © Te Papa

One of NSTP’s services is to facilitate expert assistance for museums and other groups who care for taonga. Since 2010, NSTP has supported the Hokotehi Moriori Trust in Rēkohu (the Chatham Islands) with caring for the Islands’ rākau momori – carved kōpi trees.Read more

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Te Papa’s touring exhibition, Gordon Walters: Koru, is currently being hosted at the Eastern Southland Gallery, Gore (23 April to 6 June), a splendid venue which is affectionately known as the ‘Goreggenheim’! Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art, talked to the ebullient District Curator at Eastern Southland, Jim Geddes, about it…Read more

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As we celebrate the mothers in our lives this coming Sunday, I thought it timely to reflect on some of the remarkable women present in the historical galleries of Ngā Toi │Arts Te Papa. They are present as heroines and homemakers, as artists and as benefactors. They may not haveRead more

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Kōrero pūrākau (storytelling) in Te Huka ā Tai Discovery Centre. Photograph by Kate Whitley. Te Papa

Suitable for: Early childhood, primary, and keen storytellers of any age This is the first instalment of our Matariki resource for 2016. Celebrate Matariki, the Māori New Year, by learning about te whare tapere (the traditional Māori house of entertainment) and the role of kōrero pūrākau (storytelling). Plus, pick upRead more

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I recently delivered a paper on the New Zealand sculptor Margaret Butler (1883-1947) at the University of Otago conference, ‘Making Women Visible’. Although one or two of her sculptures are occasionally exhibited, she is next to invisible to the wide public, certainly far more obscure than her older contemporary FrancesRead more

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