In the lead-up to the 2017 General Election, we have linked each of these issues to objects from the collection, or education programmes, run by Te Papa. In this post, Curator Pacific Cultures, Rachel Yates looks at the three Pacific collection items that identify the varied ways Pacific people have positively contributed to the larger New Zealand economy.Read more
Pacific Collection Manager Grace Hutton and the rest of the Pacific Cultures team acknowledge the recent passing of artist and maker of tīvaevae Mama Maria Teokota’I.Read more
The distribution of kōwhai and its close relatives throughout the Southern Hemisphere has intrigued scientists, including Charles Darwin, for over 150 years. Recent research led by Lara Shepherd has revealed more about the relationships among this iconic group of plants.Read more
Curator Pacific Cultures Rachel Yates takes a look at the book Slavers in Paradise, and a lesser-known episode of Cook Islands and Pacific history.Read more
As part of our co-collecting initiative with the Tongan community, students have been considering what truly represents them and counters stereotypical representations. Curator Pacific Art, Nina Tonga highlights some of the students and their selected objects.Read more
Pacific Art curator Nina Tonga introduces Pikipiki hama kae vaevae manava, a new initiative that sees Te Papa team up with Tongan communities in Auckland to explore the rich cultures through fashion, kava, and youth experiences.Read more
It’s New Zealand Music Month! Rachel Yates, Curator Pacific Cultures, looks at the influence of Bob Marley on the musical landscape of New Zealand. Since 2001, driven by the New Zealand Music Commission, the month of May has been dedicated to the promotion and celebration of local New Zealand artistsRead more
Many people believe that plastic items are indestructible and will last forever. But what if you learnt this wasn’t the case? Conservator, Nirmala Balram, gives us an insight into the science of plastic deterioration and how you should look after your prized plastic possessions.Read more
In 1994, four years before the opening of Te Papa, Samoan novelist and scholar Albert Wendt was an advisor for the planned Pacific exhibitions. He requested that we abandon the use of terms like ‘traditional art’ in our labels and display signage. ‘Traditional means nothing to me!’ he said. AtRead more
Rebecca Rice and Nina Tonga asked Sean Mallon, Senior Curator Pacific Cultures, some questions about Sāmoan tatau, a form of adornment still practised today.Read more
New technology is making it easier than ever to offer everyone a glimpse behind the scenes at Te Papa. We’ve shared tens of thousands of images collection objects in high resolution, and we’ve opened our venue spaces to Google Maps so that you can peek inside the museum. Recently, we’ve beenRead more
Join me, Cat Williams, over the coming months as I investigate and conserve one of Te Papa’s recent acquisitions – a painted wooden shield from Papua New Guinea. Yes, it is decorated with The Phantom! Items in our national collection have fascinating biographies and often there is still much toRead more
Deep in the jungle of Bangalla lives a masked comic-strip marvel known as the Phantom, a guardian of the innocent who fights against the destruction of injustice. His powerful feats, which stretch over four hundred years, earned him the alias of the ‘Ghost Who Walks’ and the ‘Man who NeverRead more
Recently the Pacific Cultures team at Te Papa were informed of the passing of one our elders and leaders, Tufuga Holoatu Lagatule. She was born in Niue and came to New Zealand as a teenager in 1957. She became an important figure among the Pacific communities living in Christchurch, inRead more
On our recent co-collecting project in Guåhan with Humanities Guåhan we spent time in the workspaces of indigenous Chamorro blacksmiths, carvers and weavers. The next blog in our ‘inside the artist studio’ series delves into the practices of two weaving practitioners, James Bamba and Mark Benavente. Both artists have collaborated on severalRead more
