In 2020, Te Papa acquired an 1897 watercolour painting by Margaret Stoddart that had been given the title Yellow blossom and rosemary by the cataloguers. But what are those blossoms, really? And is that rosemary in the vase, or something else? Here, Curator of Historical Art, Rebecca Rice unpacks the painting and suggests it could be somewhat pricklier than it first appears.Read more
Curator Invertebrates Rodrigo Salvador tells the story of the tragedy and survival of a Dutch garden snail whose shell ended up at Te Papa.Read more
Collections Data Manager Gareth Watkins describes how an LGBTI rainbow artwork by the famous flag maker Gilbert Baker has found a home at Te Papa.Read more
In this second instalment of the Chinese Languages in Aotearoa project, curator Grace Gassin and Tee Phee of Wellington’s Little Penang restaurant introduce Hokkien, a Chinese language originating in the southern Chinese province of Fujian.Read more
Around the time of last year’s nationwide lockdown, a coalition of local Korean community groups came together to address gaps in the national Covid-19 response. Here, Curator Asian New Zealand Histories Dr Grace Gassin highlights their work.Read more
Being in lockdown in Wellington didn’t mean an end to fieldwork for some of our staff. Botany Curator Leon Perrie and Researcher Lara Shepherd – who are in the same bubble – used their lockdown walks to collect roadside weeds for our herbarium. But what did they find within only a short walk from home?Read more
This year’s theme for Uike Kātoanga‘i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga | Tongan Language Week is “Fakakoloa ‘o Aotearoa ‘aki ‘a e Ako Lelei”, which means “enriching Aotearoa with holistic education”. Guest writer Malia Pole‘o shines a light on how a holistic education is beneficial for Tongan learners today – and for future generations.Read more
Who doesn’t know them, the little stars of Aotearoa – glow-worms? Titiwai, their Māori name refers to lights reflected in water. Who hasn’t been mesmerised by their sparkling light, visiting a cave or seeing them in the bush during a night walk? Insect Curator Julia Kasper talks about her research on the iconic critter with the glowing bum.Read more
Melanie Ioane-Warren, one of our Natural History interns, talks about the important collection of bird bones gathered by the late Augustus Hamilton. Melanie is working on this bone collection together with Curators Alan Tennyson and Rodrigo Salvador, and GNS scientist Karyne Rogers. In 1875, the clipper ship Collingwood departed EnglandRead more
Invasive species are one of the biggest threats to indigenous biodiversity. Another new weed for Aotearoa New Zealand has been reported by Botany Curator Leon Perrie and Geneticist Lara Shepherd. They ask whether we are doing enough to identify and control new weeds.Read more
The process of collecting and identifying an organism is long and stringent. Despite this, mistakes can still be commonplace. Lorenzo Ravalo is a contractor working with us as a Natural History Technician and takes us through some of the challenges faced in keeping up to date with taxonomy. Identifying anRead more
Applied arts lecturer Tuaine-Nurse Robati discusses the meanings of the words Cook Islanders use to talk about immediate family and the wider extended family.Read more
Today we’re publicly kicking off Voices of Asian Aotearoa. Under this initiative, we’ll be generating a variety of projects focused on the languages and cultural identities of different Asian New Zealand communities. Curator Grace Gassin introduces our first project, Chinese Languages in Aotearoa, which also includes a callout for the next stage – illustrators, we’d like to hear from you!Read more
Forty years ago, Aotearoa New Zealand erupted into violent protests when the South African Springbok rugby team toured the country from July to September 1981. History curator Stephanie Gibson takes us through some of the items in our collection that record what many people wore as personal protection during the protests.Read more
One hundred years ago, Wellington naturalist George Hudson walked the forest near his home – now Zealandia wildlife sanctuary – in search of fascinating New Zealand insects. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Hudson collected and identified thousands of moth specimens, now part of one of the largest insect collections in New Zealand.
Natural History intern Annie Robertson describes his legacy, the 100 Year Project, and what the citizen science and entomologist communities have found.Read more
