by Becs Thomas, Assistant Head Teacher, Tai Tamariki Kindergarten The experience of having Tai Tamariki Kindergarten children’s kākahu displayed in Kahu Ora Living Cloaks has been a wonderful learning journey for our kindergarten community, both culturally and in the learning of exhibition protocol and process. This week the second of ourRead more

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After a successful season at the Venice Biennale, in Paris and Christchurch, Michael Parekowhai’s On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer will make its final stop at the national museum, Te Papa. Opening Saturday 25 August, a specially reconfigured installation will be shown in a single gallery space for four weeksRead more

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A while back I posted Marion Queenie Kirker’s image of a ‘nodding cat’. Recently the rest of her negatives were scanned and uploaded to the museum’s database. One of the things I enjoy about working in the museum is helping to make images like this available to be seen. There areRead more

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Two wooden shields that are long rectangles with black, organge, and white geometric designs on them.

These battle shields from Chimbu (Simbu) in the Papua New Guinea Highlands were collected by a New Zealand couple who spent nearly a decade teaching in the country until their return to New Zealand in 2009. The shields are significant for their cultural value and use in warfare among theRead more

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Te Papa shares the story of modern design through the collection of ceramics, glass and metalwork gifted by Wellingtonian Walter Cook. Featuring selected objects, the new exhibition, Walter Cook: a collector’s quest opens this Saturday on Level 6. Walter Cook’s first purchase initiated him into what he called ‘the addictive habit and thrill of hunting quarryRead more

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Matthew McIntyre-Wilson. Photograph by Matariki Williams. Te Papa.

By Matariki Williams As many of you will probably know, it is school holidays time and Te Papa is buzzing with the energy of its many extra little visitors. Kahu Ora is no exception and when I went in to talk to the new weavers in residence, I was veryRead more

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As an art conservation student, I was frequently encouraged by my tutors to think of my profession as a three-legged stool—a platform supported by the three disciplines of connoisseurship, fine arts, and science.   Understanding the science of how materials age is critical for being able to slow down deterioration.  In addition,Read more

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Donna Head, Kohai Grace and Clare Butler. Photograph by Pamela Lovis

by Matariki Williams A highlight for me in Kahu Ora is a kākahu that is in the process of being cleaned by Textile Conservator Anne Peranteau. This kahu kurī is from between 1750 and 1840, of unknown provenance, and is made from strips of the pelt of a kurī (Polynesian dog) sewnRead more

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Several people in a rowboat on the shore.

I’ve been enjoying our scientists’ fieldwork posts.  We have scientists’ photographs from several historic field trips in the photography collection.  My favourites are in this photo album from the 1907 Expedition to the Subantarctic Islands.  The Expedition was initiated by the Canterbury Philosophical Institute with support from the Government, andRead more

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In my previous post about the Fiji collections, I included a few images of Fijian weapons from Te Papa’s collections. In this blog post I thought I’d take the Fiji weapon story a bit further and into popular culture. Here, I just want to highlight the small contribution Fiji weapons offered toRead more

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