One of the nicest things about having so much of Te Papa’s photography collection online is when people write in to say that we hold a photograph of some of their ancestors and are able to identify the people in the photographs. Until recently this large framed photograph of theRead more
Behind every man in uniform is a rich story. Spencer Westmacott (1885-1960) was an officer with the 16th Waikato Regiment which departed New Zealand for the First World War in October 1914. His story is the first that visitors will encounter in Te Papa’s new exhibition Gallipoli: The scale ofRead more
Crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga) might be one of the most abundant large mammals on the planet, but they rarely swim as far north as New Zealand. They are one of the characteristic animals of the pack ice zone that encircles Antarctica, hauling out on the floating ice to rest, breed,Read more
Citizen science is all the rage right now in New Zealand, especially given its emphasis in the National Science Challenges and Science and Society project. Getting the public participating in science experiments is seen as a way to get them engaged in science. Te Papa is currently running its ownRead more
The Te Papa-hosted website New Zealand Birds Online has passed a significant milestone, with the 8000th image loaded late on 29 March. Most of the images on the website have been sourced from amateur or semi-professional photographers, who have generously supported the project from the outset. At the time ofRead more
Would you like to know more about the scientific research carried out by Te Papa? Our natural history research programme encompasses tiny invertebrates to plants, and spans the ocean depths to high-flying birds. For those in Wellington, Science Curator Leon Perrie will give a floor talk in the DeCLASSIFIED! exhibitionRead more
To commemorate the life of the late New Zealand potter Peter Stichbury our curator of art and design Justine Olsen looks back over his life’s work. It is with great sadness that we farewell Peter Stichbury – the last of the Leach generation of New Zealand studio potters. Equally at home behindRead more
Did you know that 32 of New Zealand’s 44 native forget-me-not species are under some level of threat? That’s a whopping 75%! Sixteen of those species are in the “Threatened” category and another 16 are in the “At Risk” category of the New Zealand Threat Classification. Because such a highRead more
In our second blog ahead of our new exhibition Gallipoli: The scale of our war opening on April 18, Māori curator Puawai Cairns reveals some of her research into a Māori soldier that served at Gallipoli. Unlike many of the other Māori soldiers I researched for this exhibition, 2nd LieutenantRead more
If your school or Early Childhood Centre contributes a photo of a spider (or fern) to our citizen science projects, we’ll include the photo in Te Papa’s DeCLASSIFIED! exhibition*. More on the exhibition DeCLASSIFIED! Nature’s secrets exposed at Te Papa. * provided the contributed photo has a Creative Commons licence.Read more
As the museum sector wages war on the selfie stick, other museums including Te Papa have embraced the camera extension device. Taking a selfie is quickly becoming a part of the museum experience at Te Papa. We only need to check Te Papa’s Instagram account to see that our visitorsRead more
A month today Te Papa’s new exhibition Gallipoli: The scale of our war opens to the public. Keep an eye out each Wednesday over the next couple of months for a new blog from the team working on creating this exhibition. To kick things off, we’ve got a post from HistoryRead more
This week Te Papa is thrilled to be hosting the New Zealand Dance Company who are bringing their acclaimed full-length dance-piece Rotunda to Soundings Theatre. Described as ‘another fierce and fabulous strike for professional and profound contemporary dance in New Zealand’ (Bernadette Rae, The NZ Herald), Rotunda has been created by created byRead more
New electronic Flora of New Zealand (eFloraNZ) treatments have just been published for six fern families in New Zealand. The new treatments include the hairy tree ferns, Dicksonia, and the fork ferns, Tmesipteris. Each eFloraNZ treatment is a definitive, peer-reviewed account of a group of plants. eFloraNZ treatment for the Dicksoniaceae (theRead more
Introducing a significant part of Te Papa’s macro-algae (seaweed) collection – The complete Algae Nova-Zelandicae Exciccatae by Victor W Lindauer. Algae Nova-Zelandicae Exsiccatae – 14 Fascicles – Victor W Lindauer. Victor Willhelm Lindauer (1888-1964) was a school teacher who became fascinated with seaweeds after he met a team of North American phycologists (seaweed scientists) who visited the Bay of IslandsRead more
