Making histories: reflecting on experiences of Covid-19
Curator Asian New Zealand Histories Dr Grace Gassin introduces Making Histories – a Te Papa project exploring different experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
2021-02-19
Leslie Adkin: A man of great adventure
Madi Ojala is a Museum and Heritage Studies student at Victoria University who has been completing a Summer Internship at Te Papa. She discusses Adkin’s geological excursions and the appeal of working with Adkin’s prints, albums and diaries.Read more
2021-02-04
Living off the land: Lockdown gardens since forever ago
In this blog curators Isaac Te Awa and Katie Cooper use objects and photographs from our collection to explore some of the strategies used in the past to produce and preserve food.Read more
2020-12-23
Storm petrels in the spotlight
Five Te Papa staff recently joined Department of Conservation colleagues on a boat-based survey of islands in central and northern Fiordland. One of the species they were hoping to learn more about was the mysterious grey-backed storm petrel. Vertebrates curator Colin Miskelly explains why this tiny bird was on their radar, and what they found.Read more
2020-12-02
Hardship and humour: two Alfred Burton stereoscopes
The struggles and joys of colonial exploration in Fiordland through a pair of stereoscopes. Both are from the Burton Brothers studio, one from the Alexander Turnbull Library and one from Te Papa. Te Papa’s Curator Historical Photography Lissa Mitchell investigates.Read more
2020-08-27
Making matches: Reconnecting Leslie Adkin photographs
‘Adkin’s photographs provide an honest, in-depth insight into rural life in New Zealand during the first half of the 20th century.’ Danielle Campbell, a Museum and Heritage Studies student at Victoria University, discusses her three favourite Leslie Adkin photographs that she came across during her summer internship at Te Papa.Read more
2020-01-31
Curious, cute, or edgy: cataloguing old negatives
Olivia Martin, a Master of Museum and Heritage practice program student at Wellington’s Victoria University, spent three months working on a placement at Te Papa. Here she describes her work on a group of photographs.Read more
2019-09-11
Blow-Up: Photography and swinging sixties London
The classic 1960s film ‘Blow-Up’ had quite and impact on the photographers featured in our exhibition ‘The New Photography’. Here, photography curator Athol McCredie reflects on the movie, its themes, and some of the ways it connected to New Zealand photography.Read more
2019-08-20
Are you the girl in this photo?
Curator Photography Athol McCredie looks at a photo by Max Oettli capturing a moment of curiosity in a little girl’s life. But who is she? Is she you?Read more
2019-08-02
Coming to ‘The New Photography’
Photography Curator Athol McCredie’s new book The New Photography: New Zealand’s first-generation contemporary photographers has just been published by Te Papa Press. It is accompanied by an exhibition that runs until 13 October. The book and exhibition feature eight photographers who were working in a personal documentary manner from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.Read more
2019-06-26
Using museum collections to solve the Pink and White Terraces mystery
Scientist and aspiring field art historian George Hook shares his story on how he applied new methodology to help pin down the location of the iconic Pink and White Terraces, lost to the world with the Mt Tarawera eruption of 1886.Read more
2019-06-05
Remembering artist Bill Culbert, 1935–2019
New Zealand expatriate artist Bill Culbert passed away on 28 March 2019. Here, curator of photography Athol McCredie, and Curator of Modern & Contemporary Māori & Indigenous Art, Megan Tamati-Quennell, reflect on some aspects of Culbert’s work. Read more
2019-04-09
Peter Peryer, photographer (1941–2018)
‘Peter Peryer’s ability to tap deeply into himself, and into our collective memory, makes him one of the most important New Zealand photographers of recent times.’ Photography curator Athol McCredie shares some thoughts about Peter and his work.Read more
2018-11-23
Inspiring stories about NZ women photographers – Harriet Cobb (1846-1929)
Curator Historical Photography Lissa Mitchell takes a look at the life and career of Harriet Cobb, who operated two successful photography studios in the late-1800s and into the 20th century.Read more
2018-10-16
The southern right stuff: Photographing Wellington’s whale
When a southern right whale captured the imagination of Wellington last week with a bout of acrobatics in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour), Imaging Specialist Jean-Claude Stahl was there with his camera to capture some pretty epic moments. Here, he shares them and sheds some light on our new best friend.Read more
2018-07-11