56 years ago New Zealanders celebrate victory over Japan (15 August 1945) The photo below shows people celebrating VJ (Victory over Japan) Day in Wellington. It was taken by John Pascoe, who was employed by the government to photograph life in New Zealand during World War Two. The day markedRead more
Its been great to receive so much positive feedback about Edwina Ehrman’s wonderful talk at Te Papa last week about Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Dress. From the comments we’ve received, it sounds like you are as excited as we are! Behind the scenes it was great to have Edwina hereRead more
The V&A’s stunning new exhibition on 200 years of wedding dress has just opened across the ditch at the Bendigo Art Gallery, which is about a two hour drive from Melbourne. ABC news filmed some of the installation and interviewed the curator, Edwina Ehrman. It provides a great preview of theRead more
This coming Saturday, 6 August 2011 is the opening of the combined Oceania exhibition between Te Papa and Wellington City Gallery. Te Papa’s exhibition titled Early Encounters will showcase a range of taonga and objects from History, Maori, Pacific Cultures, Art and Natural Environment collections. The three month long showRead more
The V&A’s wonderful wedding dress exhibition is just about to open in Bendigo, Australia. We are delighted that the exhibition’s curator, Edwina Ehrman has agreed to extend her trip to the Southern Hemisphere for a few extra days in order to pop across to Wellington. Next Tuesday evening, 9 August 2011,Read more
30 years ago the South African rugby team is welcomed to New Zealand at the Poho-o-Rawiri marae, Gisborne, at the start of its tour of the country (17 July 1981). Rugby Union has long had a prominent, if not undisputed place in New Zealand culture. Kia Ora Rugby Team, Photographer Unknown;Read more
Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly tells the fifth part of the unfolding story of the emperor penguin that went where none had gone before (at least in the age of digital media). Colin accompanied Department of Conservation staff to Peka Peka Beach on the morning ofRead more
It started as a trickle and soon developed into a flood of devastating proportions. On 11 July 2011 I received an email enquiry from a family at Waikanae seeking help with identifying an unusual seabird that they had found dead on their driveway. It was a Salvin’s prion, a not-too-unexpectedRead more
Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly tells the fourth part of the unfolding story of the emperor penguin that went where none had gone before (at least in the age of digital media). Colin accompanied Department of Conservation staff to Peka Peka Beach on the morning ofRead more
The Pacific Cultures team and the Art team would like to acknowledge artist and curator Jim Vivieaere who passed away a month ago after illness. Jim’s involvement with Te Papa spanned many years and several projects including Art now: the first biennial review of contemporary art (1994). Art curator Christina BartonRead more
Alongside the plants brought from the tropical Pacific, it is thought that Māori cultivated at least a handful of New Zealand plant species. Massey University’s Lara Shepherd is investigating several such plants: karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus), rengarenga (Arthropodium cirratum), and whau (Entelea arborescens). Karaka in Te Papa’s Bush City. Karaka, rengarenga, andRead more
Last week we released the latest edition of our annual research journal, Tuhinga, through our Collections Online. While we’ve had some older editions of Tuhinga available as downloadable pdf’s for a little while now, this is the first year we’ve released Tuhinga primarily in digital form, and linked to the collections themselves. This yearsRead more
Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly tells the third part of the unfolding story of the emperor penguin that went where none had gone before (at least in the age of digital media). Colin accompanied Department of Conservation staff to Peka Peka Beach on the morning ofRead more
I know little about fungi, but I can still see that there are plenty around at present. Perhaps they’ve been enjoying the mild start to winter. The following caught my eye during a recent Manawatu Botanical Society field-trip to the Branch Road track in the Pohangina Valley north of PalmerstonRead more
On Tuesday 28 June, the Great White Shark debuted on his first film set, defrosted and ready for action. Andrew Stewart, Collection Manager Fishes managed the team in preparing the shark for its fixing process and dissection with great excitement of what could be discovered. Over the course of theRead more
