Curator Dougal Austin condition reporting all 216 objects, November 2012. Callum Strong.

Kura Pounamu is Te Papa’s first exhibition of Maori Taonga in China since the National Museum sent Maori artifacts in 1978. The mutual appreciation of ‘green stone’ jadite (jade) and nephrite (pounamu) provided an ideal platform for re-establishing a cultural exchange. The exhibition required ease of installation and minimal objectRead more

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In: Behind the scenes, Māori
Te Papa curator Colin Miskelly checks out a giant ongaonga leaf. Photo credit: Lara Shepherd

Whilst recently chasing seabirds on Titi Island we came across tree nettles (ongaonga, Urtica ferox) with super-sized leaves. The largest leaf we measured was 28 cm long, much longer than the maximum leaf length of 18 cm given for this species in the Flora of New Zealand. Perhaps the abundantRead more

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Plants can grow in what appear to be the strangest places.  This can be frustrating for property owners (e.g., grass in the gutter; footpaths cracked by pohutukawa roots). But our view of plants is often from our own animal-centric perspective; unlike our zoological kin, an individual plant doesn’t have theRead more

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In: Art

Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly tells the 12th, and probably final, instalment of the story of the emperor penguin that went where none had gone before. Previous blogs on the penguin were posted between 23 June 2011 and 24 April 2012. For those of you interestedRead more

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In: Science

Titi Island is a 32-ha reserve administered by the Department of Conservation and situated in the outer Marlborough Sounds. The island’s fauna was impacted by introduced Norway rats until these were eradicated in the early 1970s. The island has since been free of all introduced predators. Two species of largeRead more

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A team from the Discovery Centres recently spent nine Wednesday afternoons together with nine awesome tamariki (children) in a trial run of Te Papa’s first after school club. Through the after school club we wanted to learn, together with the tamariki, about the stories Te Papa tells. We also wantedRead more

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In: Education, Photography

I am immediately intrigued. Human Video Games? My mind conjures up little stick figures being chased through a maze by giant Cheezles with teeth!  Mmmmn…Cheezles…anywayyy, as soon as the event kicks off at 1pm on a scorchingly hot day at Te Papa,  I find an excuse to meander down toRead more

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In: Education

Seventy one years ago, New Zealand declares war on Japan after the bombing of the US naval bases at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii (8 December 1941) The bombing of Pearl Harbour set the Pacific War in motion. This event and Japan’s subsequent expansion through the Philippines, Thailand and the Malaysian peninsula,Read more

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In: History, Pacific

Christmas marks that another year has just about gone. Another year of change, doubt, joy, laughter and sorrow. Another year that those who have passed don’t know about. If I made a Christmas card from a photograph in the collection I would probably choose the image above. The photograph, takenRead more

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In: History

Part of my role as Collection Manager at Te Papa herbarium is contributing to the further development of our dried plant collection. At the herbarium we are interested in collecting indigenous and naturalised New Zealand plant species for future scientific investigation and as an historical record. One of our recentRead more

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In: Science