Since I posted introducing One Day Sculpture and visiting artist James Luna, who is developing a project to be presented at Te Papa, Megan, James and I have been to Auckland and back. In Auckland James gave a talk at the Auckland Art Gallery‘s Art Lounge as part of theirRead more

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By Chris Paulin and Alan Tennyson Recently, a group of researchers in New Zealand suggested that the absence of fossils between 25 and 22 million years ago indicated that the islands completely disappeared under water, and then later re-emerged. But a newly discovered fossil reptile suggests this theory does notRead more

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Mondrian’s last chrysanthemum, the Colin McCahon painting we bought at the end of last year, arrived at Te Papa recently. It’s great to see it again. Like most paintings, there’s a lot about this work that you don’t get until you see it in the flesh. There’s beauty of theRead more

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What do you think of the Māori seats in Parliament? On Thursday 5 February @ 6.30 – 8 p.m. two speakers will deal with this provocative issue – The role of Māori in Parliament and the future of the Māori seats. Professor Philip Joseph and Derek Fox will discuss this topic as part of Te Papa’sRead more

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In: History, Māori

This post is inspired by Smiv’s reminiscences about cinnabar moth caterpillars when commenting on my previous blog entry. Also, as adult cinnabar moths are on the wing this time of year in New Zealand summer and sightings always generate a number of calls to Te Papa’s entomology department, I thoughtRead more

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Don’t judge a book by its cover, the saying goes. There’s no doubt, though, that a book’s cover can say an awful lot about what’s inside. Deciding what work should go on the cover of the forthcoming book Art at Te Papa — Michael Illingworth’s Untitled 1971 — wasn’t easy.  WeRead more

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If you are an art follower you may have already heard about the One Day Sculpture project. One Day Sculpture was launched in Wellington in March 2008 in conjunction with the New Zealand International Arts Festival. Since then there have been 7 projects presented. These were all commissioned by differentRead more

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Hi there, I’m William McAloon, Curator of Historical New Zealand Art here at Te Papa. Over the last couple of years I’ve been working on a big book on Te Papa’s art collection. Art at Te Papa features over 400 works, from the 15th century to the present day. TheRead more

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Caterpillar chews on a stem of a leaf

In the summer months I get plenty of phone calls and emails from monarch butterfly fanciers, all with a common problem: “My swan plants are almost stripped bare yet I have so many monarch butterfly caterpillars I really don’t know what to do. Is there anything else I can feedRead more

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In: Science

Last weekend, when I should have been writing grant applications, I was dragged out for a bush-walk. However, my arm didn’t have to be twisted too hard, since it was a fine day and the track between Kiriwhakapapa and Blue Range is lovely (although steep). Alseuosmia pusilla was abundant alongRead more

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Field-work is one of the best aspects of working as a Natural Environment curator at Te Papa. I get to spend about three weeks a year in the field collecting plant specimens. I’ve recently returned from ten days field-work in the South Island, collecting samples for our research on lancewoodRead more

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I have to admit – there’s something special about about getting up at an ungodly hour to do something or see something out of the ordinary. Driving this morning through a beautifully still Wellington morning with no traffic is something out of the ordinary in itself 🙂 So it wasRead more

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In: Behind the scenes, Science

Many people have asked us why the colossal squid specimen was so much smaller than anticipated when we thawed it. Initial reports suggested that the specimen was considerably larger than the final measurement of 4.2 metres in total length. We suspected that the specimen had shrunk (rather than the size beingRead more

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With less than a month to go until our squid meets her adoring fans, there is still much to be done behind the scenes, not least of which is trying to figure out the best way of getting a 2.5 tonne display tank – squid included – from its storageRead more

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Almost 250 objects and images related to World War I held by Te Papa can now be viewed on online. Curators have chosen items with sentimental value or connected to the home front and the war’s aftermath in New Zealand, as well as those associated directly with the conflict andRead more

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In: History