Some time ago now, the Te Papa Science team completed the process of collecting, identifying and storing terrestrial plants from a low-stature plant community on Wellington’s South Coast.  Over 100 species of seed plant, ferns, lichens, moss, liverwort and seaweed were collected.  This total comprised approximately 69 indigenous and 33 naturalised plantRead more

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In this Gallipoli: The scale of our war blog, Weta Workshop’s Rob Murphy talks about overseeing the installation of the exhibition. I’d only been working at Weta Workshop for about eight weeks when the first pieces of the Gallipoli exhibition started to hit the floor and work their way intoRead more

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Te Papa was thrilled to work with Production Shed TV in 2013 and 2014 on a documentary inspired by the Berry & Co. soldier portraits held in the museum’s collection. The documentary, which was originally produced for TVNZ,  features the stories of six soldiers depicted in the collection. This June, you have the opportunity to seeRead more

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The industrious Lethbridge sisters Earlier this year Te Papa was approached by Red Strand Design. Based in Cork and London, the company specialises in design-based cultural and education projects. They invited us to take part in Passion & Legacy, a project inspired by the incredible stitch work of the ‘Lethbridge Sisters’, Julia Baroness Carew (1863-1922)Read more

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In late 2014, Te Papa Botany Staff embarked on a 11 day field trip from Otago to North Canterbury.  We collected specimens, images and DNA samples of native forget-me-nots (Myosotis spp.) and New Zealand hebes (Veronica spp.). See the first blog in this series for the detailed itinerary. Along the way, other native (and naturalised) species wereRead more

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The English painter John Frederick Lewis (1804–1876)  was a fascinating and brilliant enigma to his contemporaries, and remains so today. He was certainly no pompous, verbose Victorian bore. At a dinner of the Society of Painters in Watercolours, Lewis delivered a memorable presidential address, rising from his seat, saying nothing,Read more

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With its long history of isolation from other land masses, New Zealand has been suggested to be an ‘ark’ for unusual species, such as tuatara and moa. But New Zealand has now been found to be a genetic ark for an introduced species – the stoat. A recent study reportedRead more

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Before or after visiting Gallipoli: The scale of our war, take some time to head up to level 4 to see The Road to Recovery: Disabled Soldiers of World War I. This small-scale exhibition contains sobering content showing the long-term impact of the Great War on individuals, families and communities. In theRead more

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Surrealist painting by Rita Angus

Around 1945, Rita Angus painted a man sitting in an armchair, next to a table of books and a bunch of flowers. Nothing too strange so far, right? Except that there is a devil in a long purple robe creeping up behind him. Not to mention the huge spider crawlingRead more

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I have been an avid listener of the BBC World Service’s wonderful series on the War that Changed the World, which is being broadcast locally by Radio New Zealand. Working in partnership with the British Council, the BBC has recorded a series of panel discussions in different cities around the world fromRead more

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