There’s ferns even in the desert. Strictly speaking, it’s apparently an “arid” region, rather than desert. In any case, it was dry.Read more

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This year marks the 25th year since the opening of the Te Maori exhibition at the Metropolitan museum in New York, 10th September, 1984. The exhibition was an overnight media and public sensation. It was heralded as an international success and continued its tour over 1985-86,  to the Saint LouisRead more

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This is my opening post in a series to discuss approaches to the framing of paintings. This first one is a response to William McAloon’s post: Freedom to act and takes his blog post as a point of departure. I look at some of the issues involving the sympathetic framingRead more

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I had a call yesterday from Wellington’s Dominion Post newspaper needing an expert to identify some fish found washed up on the Petone foreshore.  Andrew Stewart, Te Papa’s fishes collection manager, identified them as porcupine fish. Andrew says that the porcupine fish lives around in-shore reefs, especially along our northern coastsRead more

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In: Collections Online, Pacific

Te Papa acknowledges the life and writing of poet, playwright, novelist, and memoirist Alistair Te Ariki Campbell. His work is noted for its attempts to reconcile the complexities and displacements he experienced as a result of his New Zealand/Cook Islands ancestry. Campbell was born in the Cook Islands and spentRead more

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Well … kind of!  NZL 32 aka Black Magic will be barged tomorrow morning from Team New Zealand’s shed in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour to its new home within the National Maritime Museum’s Blue Water Black Magic – A Tribute to Sir Peter Blake exhibition, opening in December this year. BlackRead more

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No, it is not Christmas already. (Fortunately the year hasn’t passed by that quickly.) But this pohutukawa on Wellington’s waterfront, opposite Frank Kitts Park, seems to think so. It has been spluttering into flower over the last few weeks. The pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) is New Zealand’s ‘Christmas tree’, its burstingRead more

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Many people at Te Papa were saddened to learn of the death this morning of Julian Dashper. Julian had suffered serious illness over the past few years. He fought cheerfully and bravely, all the while continuing to make and exhibit new work. Our deepest sympathies go out to Julian’s family.Read more

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Chief Executive Officer, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 2003–2009. ‘What I’ve enjoyed most is developing the relevance of what happens inside the museum for the public.’ (Dr Bennington, 2003) E te Rangatira Seddon – He Poroporoaki He reo noa ka kore e rongohia e tangi ana i rotoRead more

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Joan Wiffen, who found hard evidence that dinosaurs had inhabited New Zealand, died this month aged 87. I’m not a scientist, but I do have an interest in the history of science, and even I can see that Wiffen made historically significant and far-reaching contributions to scientific thinking.   First findings In 1975, WiffenRead more

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Avid art blog followers will now be familiar with Creative New Zealand’s NZ at Venice blog site. The project curators of Judy Millar’s Giraffe-Bottle-Gun and Francis Upritchard’s Save Yourself, and the venue attendants have been blogging regularly since the beginning of the installation period. Posts are coming in thick and fastRead more

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To celebrate Te Papa’s tenth anniversary, the Friends of Te Papa commissioned artist Humphrey Ikin to create a lectern for Rongomaraeroa, Te Papa’s contemporary meeting house on Level 4. Humphrey Ikin is an artist working in wood, already represented in Te Papa’s collection with ‘Red Stave Chair‘. The lectern representsRead more

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Aside from ferns, my main research interest is the group of trees known as Pseudopanax, for which I collaborate with Lara Shepherd from the Allan Wilson Centre. Pseudopanax includes the lancewoods and five-fingers. Several of the species are popular in cultivation, including fierce lancewood (Pseudopanax ferox). This species is soRead more

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