Museum education specialist Donald James talks about the new Bug Lab exhibition coming to Te Papa on 10 Dec 2016 and introduces a brand new learning resource for teachers.Read more
Have you ever thought about the history of the humble pocket? This past winter, Keira Miller, an intern from the University of Glasgow’s Center for Textile Conservation, helped us with the treatment of some detachable 18th century pockets for the exhibition European Splendour 1500-1800. Keira writes about the importance of pocketsRead more
Have you ever wondered how exactly a modern book is printed? Well, below is a series of photographs showing some of what goes on when a book is on the printing press.Read more
Recently a photography exhibition titled Picturing Asia: Double Take – The Photography of Brian Brake and Steve McCurry opened at the Asia Society in Hong Kong. Te Papa is one of the partners with the Asia Society in developing this exhibition, as the Brake images are all drawn from Te Papa’s collection.Read more
Dr Hamish Campbell, Te Papa’s geologist in residence from GNS Science, shares his experience witnessing the green lights in the sky following the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. Green sheet lightning I was driving home to Wellington from Auckland late on Sunday night after having had dinner in Taupo with Dinah and ourRead more
In 1916, after two years of fighting, it was clear that New Zealanders’ loyalty to ‘King and Country’ was competing with other concerns – and fewer men were volunteering. History curator Kirstie Ross takes a look at conscription – introduced 100 years ago to ensure a constant supply of New Zealand soldiersRead more
It is with sadness that we at Te Papa learned photographer Marti Friedlander passed away in Auckland on Monday 15 November. Marti was born in London of Jewish parents and emigrated to New Zealand with her Kiwi husband Gerrard in 1958. She was shocked by how conservative New Zealand wasRead more
Dr Mark Stocker, Curator Historical International Art, explores the slippery links between art and democracyRead more
You can come across some surprising sights when wandering around Te Papa – including 3 and 4-year-olds taking pictures with vintage cameras. Read more
Each year, the history curators take design students from Massey University though Te Papa’s collections behind the scenes. The students choose an item to inspire their own design and it’s around this time of year we see what they’ve created. Curator Claire Regnault shares some of the fabulous designs. Read more
History curator Claire Regnault discusses the declaration that ‘fashion is dead’ – a question at the heart of this year’s End of Fashion conference, hosted in Wellington.Read more
Fieldwork can be as easy as reaching out of the car window to sample a tree. Or it can be a bit more challenging.Read more
Cuckoos are well-known for eating spiky and poisonous foods, but did you know they can eat toxic monarch caterpillars?Read more
David Riley, who works in our Digital Collections and Access team, is digitising 190 film reels – the contents of which hasn’t been seen for 70 years. Find out what he’s found so far. Discovering the film reels Since joining Te Papa I have been curious about a collection ofRead more
Written for children, by children, Te Papa’s Learning Innovation and Art teams are very excited to share the first book produced by our friends from the Pukerua Bay School Museum. This guide is full of great information relating to life in Europe in the 16th to 19th centuries – inspired by the taonga (treasures) onRead more
