Ghost shark in volcano caught on camera
A rare sighting has been made by one of our hosts Perry Hyde, and the rest of the crew of the JOIDES Resolution.Read more
2018-05-24
Peddling to freedom: 19th century cycling dress for women
“A woman on a bicycle – legs astride – threatened 19th-century definitions of feminine respectability.” History Curator Claire Regnault dives into the contentious history of ladies on bicycles.Read more
2018-05-23
Pink Shirt Day: Finding strength through taonga
Today is Pink Shirt Day, “a day about working together to stop bullying by celebrating diversity”. Collections Data Technician Gareth Watkins talks about the significance of the day, and finding strength in our collections.Read more
2018-05-18
How many species of the confusing shrub toropapa are disguised in the bush?
Toropapa has been confusing botanists for over 100 years because they show extreme variation in leaf shape – even between plants considered to be the same species from a single location.Read more
2018-05-14
The decade-long journey of our whales exhibition
After a decade in North America, our Whales | Tohorā exhibition is making its way back south through the Pacific. For anyone who can’t recall the exhibition – it finished showing at Te Papa in May 2008. Here’s a brief recap from Pat Stodart, Touring Exhibition Manager.Read more
2018-05-11
How your behaviour has changed the way we make digital exhibition labels
Have you used digital labels in our exhibitions? We use them to tell stories about our objects on screens, instead of just text on walls. Our User Experience team Karyn Brice and Kate Wanless share what they’ve learnt over the last year, and how these insights have helped create our most successful digital label ever.Read more
2018-05-09
‘I’ve never seen the gallery like this before’: Experiencing Toi Art through dance
Transfixed by BodyCartography Project’s Walk with me tour of Toi Art, Head of Exhibition Renewal Frith Williams wrote down her thoughts in the middle of the night, “so I could remember it later.” Here’s what she wrote.Read more
2018-05-08
Māori kākahu (cloaks): When is a korowai not a korowai?
During the last week, there have been many conversations circulating through different media and social networks about our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wearing a kākahu (cloak) at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Kaitiaki Māori Collection Manager Mark Sykes explains the differences between kahu huruhuru, kahu kiwi, kahu kuri, and korowai.Read more
2018-04-30
Illustrations of the Grand Canyon – our retiring librarian’s favourite rare book
Here, Christine chooses her favourite rare book – and it’s possibly an unexpected one: Atlas to Accompany the Tertiary history of the Grand Cañon district.Read more
2018-04-26
Buried alive on the Somme, the story of Lottie Le Gallais’ other brother
To mark Anzac Day, and the third anniversary of the opening of Gallipoli: The scale of our war, the exhibition’s lead curator Kirstie Ross shares the story nurse of Lottie Le Gallais’ other brother Owen, who was buried alive during the Battle of the Somme in September 1916.Read more
2018-04-25
Te ao Māori: The synergy between women and the land
Iwi development manager Migoto Eria looks at the relationship between Heretaunga chief Hēnare Tōmoana and his wife Ākenehi Pātoka, who signed the suffrage petition in 1893, and reflects on the synergy between wahine (women) and whenua (land).Read more
2018-04-23
Digitally ‘restoring’ a WWII souvenir textile
A faded embroidery shines again with the help of Photoshop. Textiles conservator Anne Peranteau discusses the process of digitally restoring colour to a faded Egyptian souvenir from World War II.Read more
2018-04-19
The mystery of the giant hoho weevils of Rangatira Island
Te Papa curator Colin Miskelly has recently returned from volunteering for the Department of Conservation on the Chatham Islands. His inordinate fondness for weevils led to some new discoveries about one of Rangatira Island’s more cryptic yet spectacular inhabitants.Read more
2018-04-18
The history of purple, from ancient Rome to women’s rights
‘Ultra Violet 18-3838’ is 2018’s ‘colour of the year’, as selected by Pantone Color Institute. History curator Kirstie Ross looks at the symbolism of purple from ancient Rome to the fight for women’s rights.Read more
2018-04-17
Etchings that leave you wide-eyed and slack-jawed
Te Papa Summer Scholar Siobhon Moore shares her experiences researching the heights of the British etching revival in the vast Ilott Collection and the exciting discoveries she has made.Read more
2018-04-16