The postie look: A timeline of fashion
Museum studies intern Ruby Abraham takes us through the postie uniforms in our collection, from military styled suits to vibrant and funky tracksuits that leave little to the imagination!Read more
2018-08-31
Why do scientific names change? Kiokio by any other name…
What is an appropriate amount of change in our scientific classification of life? Botany Curator Leon Perrie ponders this using the kiokio and its fern relatives as an example.Read more
2018-08-31
Make cool stuff with our collections using our API
Over the past couple of years a team of tipua rarekē | curious creatures have been mining the deepest recesses of our collections metadata in order to offer it to you for creative use. What does this mean? Here, Digital Channels Manager Adrian Kingston introduces our Collections API.Read more
2018-08-30
How to clean a dolphin’s teeth
Conservator Robert Clendon is undertaking the bizarre job of cleaning the teeth of a bottlenose dolphin and then gluing the teeth into position so they don’t pop out while on display.Read more
2018-08-29
176 months at Te Papa: Haere rā to history curator Kirstie Ross
Kirstie’s packing up to leave Te Papa for the last time but we couldn’t let her go without interviewing her about her 14.5 years here. Read more
2018-08-20
Searching in needles and haystacks for forget-me-nots
Read about Botanists Heidi Meudt and Antony Kusabs epic 14-day forget-me-not field work adventure. Highlights include solving a plant identification mystery and finding a plant that hadn’t been collected in almost a century.Read more
2018-08-20
The largest shark that ever lived – Megalodon (The Meg) in New Zealand
With today’s launch of the film The Meg, Curator of Vertebrates Alan Tennyson looks at what we know about the monster that grew to 18 metres and lived in New Zealand’s waters – the megalodon ‘big tooth’ shark (Carcharocles megalodon).Read more
2018-08-16
Help crack the insect code
Do you love insects and puzzles? This is your chance to make entomology history. We need help matching thousands of specimens to their records from three handwritten books by New Zealand entomologist George Hudson. Curator Terrestrial Invertebrates Julia Kasper explains the details. Read more
2018-08-15
New Zealand’s champion swimmer who needed a chaperone because she was a single woman
Senior Curator New Zealand Culture & History Claire Regnault uncovers the story of Gladys Pidgeon, New Zealand’s sole female representative at the 1930 British Empire Games, who was not allowed to travel alone.Read more
2018-08-10
How to design an exhibition for teens? Co-create it with them
Our upcoming exhibition ‘Tony Fomison: Lost in the Dark’, diving into his dark and moody works from 1967 to 1975, is co-created with teenagers from Wellington High School, which involved working together across a number of creative sessions. Here, Experience Designer Chloe Johnston channels here inner teen. Read more
2018-08-06
Anders Zorn: the ultimate printmaker
Curator Historical International Art Dr Mark Stocker explores the sensational prints of Swedish artist Anders Zorn.Read more
2018-08-01
The language of agile methodology in te reo Māori: being kakama
In our daily behind the scenes work we use agile methodology and te reo – but we can always do better. Reo Māori Writer Ranea Aperahama worked with the team driving agile throughout Te Papa to come up with the reo interpretations.Read more
2018-07-30
Does Polly really want a cracker?
Head of Science Dr Susan Waugh introduces Dr Barbara Mizumo Tomotani, arriving in September to look at how our birdlife has adapted to human impact.Read more
2018-07-27
Our Kates reflect on Kate Sheppard
What do Te Papa’s five Kates (well, four Kates and a Katie) have to say about their famous namesake, Kate Sheppard, who successfully led the quest for New Zealand women to gain the right to vote 125 years ago this year?Read more
2018-07-25
Don’t rock the boat in the murder house – women’s work in New Zealand
Museum studies intern Ashley Tvrdeic writes about the gender pay gap and the time when school dental nurses dared to ask for a pay rise.Read more
2018-07-19