Curator decorative art and design Justine Olsen chooses her top ten objects exhibited in European Splendour: 1500–1800. The objects below are mainly decorative and through them we see changes in style, materials, and techniques. They offer a valuable insights into a bygone age and highlight the impact of religion, trade, culture, and theRead more
Throughout 2015, young children from three Wellington regional Early Childhood Centres (ECE) have been thinking and working as scientists as part of the ‘It’s a Bugs Life’ partnership project with Te Papa Education. In celebration of the mahi (work), their teachers and educators from Te Papa arranged for the children to come and meet with more experienced scientistsRead more
Throughout 2015, young children from three Wellington regional Early Childhood Centres (ECE) have been thinking and working as scientists as part of the ‘It’s a Bugs Life’ partnership project with Te Papa Education. In celebration of the mahi (work), their teachers and educators from Te Papa arranged for the children to come and meet with more experienced scientistsRead more
The year was 1997 and Te Papa was about to open on the waterfront. Two buildings waited in the wings, Buckle St, the then National Museum and Tory St, the soon to be collection store and science facility. At the time the buildings were in a state of flux. Still clinging toRead more
As we celebrate the mothers in our lives this coming Sunday, I thought it timely to reflect on some of the remarkable women present in the historical galleries of Ngā Toi │Arts Te Papa. They are present as heroines and homemakers, as artists and as benefactors. They may not haveRead more
‘Glory box’ is not a term we use a lot today, yet for Cook Island women these large storage chests have stored collections of treasured tīvaevae (quilts) since the 1800s. While tīvaevae can be used as bed covers, many are presented as gifts from family members at important life eventsRead more
A new paper by Te Papa researchers and their colleagues from Massey University, NIWA and the Swedish Museum of Natural History, describes not one but THREE new species of hagfish. This increases the total number species found in New Zealand waters to eight. What are hagfish? These strange creatures, alsoRead more
Right from the beginning TEAL, NAC and later Air New Zealand produced travel bags that reveal the company’s name, colours and logo. As such they are important markers of the changing face of the airline. Air New Zealand 75 years. Our nation. The world. Connected has a selection of theseRead more
This week is Tongan language week 2014 – Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga. The theme for this year is “Ko e Kai ia ‘a e Tonga” – “Enriching Aotearoa with Tongan Wisdom”. Te Papa’s Pacific Cultures collections have just over 1000 artefacts associated with Tonga, from art works andRead more
Welcome to the sixth blog of our series celebrating le vaiaso o le gagana Sāmoa (Samoan Language Week) from 26-31 May 2013. This is a tu’i ipu – a rattle used by Samoan fishermen when they are hunting sharks. The Samoan word for shark is malie. The tu’i ipu is made fromRead more
Rachel Yates (Curator Pacific Cultures) writes: The Pacific Cultures Collection storeroom has been very busy with guests of all ages from all over the world. In the last six months, it has been great to see visitors and the Pacific community connect with objects that have been acquired from Pacific people andRead more
Here is the fifth instalment in our series of blogs all about prions! This is in preparation for our upcoming Science Live event on Oct 22nd at 1:50 pm NZ time when you can accompany us into the lab via live streaming (a permanent link to the YouTube video can beRead more
In this fourth blogpost of Te Epetoma o te Reo Māori Kuki Airani – Cook Islands Māori Language week, we look at two drums from the Cook Islands acquired by the museum at the beginning and end of the twentieth century. The first is a pa’u mango (small skin drum) from the Cook Islands. In theRead more
Here is the forth instalment in our series of blogs all about prions! This is in preparation for our upcoming Science Live event on Oct 22nd at 1:50 pm NZ time when you can accompany us into the lab via live streaming (a permanent link to the YouTube video can be foundRead more
Welcome to our final blog post for le vaiaso o le gagana Sāmoa (Samoan language week) for 2013. In this blog, we feature a poem composed by Charles Niu, who visited the Pacific Cultures Collection during the back of house tours at Te Papa highlighting Samoa Language Week. We had an overwhelmingRead more
