Between November 2023 and March 2024, Natural History curator Colin Miskelly is walking the length of Aotearoa New Zealand on Te Araroa Trail – counting every bird seen or heard along the way. In this second blog in the series, Colin starts out on his journey. The first bird NewRead more

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In January 2023, Te Papa Botany Curator Heidi Meudt was one of a team of Aotearoa New Zealand botanists and crew who travelled to Motu Maha Auckland Islands to undertake botanical research and make new collections. Here, she provides an overview of Motu Maha Auckland Islands, how and why they travelled there, and an introduction to this blog series about their 2023 Strannik Auckland Island Expedition.Read more

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Leslie Adkin (1888–1964) was a farmer by profession, based in Levin. He pursued geology and archaeology, enjoyed exploring and tramping, while photographing and diarising these adventures meticulously. A more detailed biography of Adkin can be found on Te Ara. Art intern Annie Barnard is an Art History student at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Her internship was completed as part of her Honours year. Here she talks about her mahi working with some of his albums and diaries.Read more

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Recent developments in photographic equipment and software has contributed to a proliferation of stunning wildlife images. Natural History curator Colin Miskelly describes how high-quality digital images have revealed previously overlooked or unrecognised ecological interactions between two ancient species that have been in Aotearoa for tens of millions of years. OurRead more

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The Ockham Lecture series is an annual programme of lectures and panel discussions that critically engage with craft, design, and architecture. Director of Audience and Insight Puawai Cairns recently presented her Ockham Lecture in connection to Tīhāte!, a project in the Objectspace exhibition Pohewa Pāhewa: a Māori design kaupapa which demonstrates how t-shirt design outcome is used by Māori to show affiliations, share protest messages, and commemorate important moments. Puawai is a co-author of the book Protest Tautohetohe: Objects of Resistance, Persistence and Defiance, along with Curator History Stephanie Gibson, and then Curator Mātauranga Māori Matariki Williams. Here we’re reproducing some of her kōrero from the lecture as well as contributions from Stephanie Gibson about some of the tees that are featured in the book and why museums collect them as taonga.Read more

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A brown kiwi photographed in the bush at night.

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten official Great Walks. Te Papa natural history curator Dr Colin Miskelly has walked (or paddled) them all, and kept records of the birds that he encountered along the way. In this eleventh and final blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered whileRead more

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Aotearoa New Zealand has ten official Great Walks. Te Papa natural history curator Dr Colin Miskelly has walked (or paddled) them all, and kept records of the birds that he encountered along the way. In this tenth blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking theRead more

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In: Photography, Science