I’ve recently learnt that the introduced Azolla pinnata (ferny azolla) has been found in the Wellington region. I’m interested in its distribution and would be grateful for help in looking for more. Azolla plants are fairly easy to spot: look for a red plant covering still bodies of water. AzollaRead more
Movember is drawing to a close, and thousands of men in New Zealand and around the world are sporting moustaches for a good cause. In New Zealand, the funds raised are being used for research, advocacy and survivor support around men’s cancer and mental health. Here’s a small selection ofRead more
Brian Brake grew up in Arthur’s Pass and retained a love of New Zealand’s mountains all his life. He took hundreds of photographs of South Island peaks, lakes and rivers. If you’re an alpine enthusiast, a keen tramper, or you know the South Island well, please take a look andRead more
Where would you go to find a new species? Perhaps somewhere remote and little-visited, especially if it is ecologically unusual – New Caledonia maybe… Well, instead, how about inside Te Papa’s collections, because that’s where I first discovered a new species of Gleichenia tangle fern. A lot of biodiversity remainsRead more
Te Papa has a collection of nearly 4,000 glass plate and film negatives taken by the Wellington photography studio Berry & Co. The studio was founded by William Berry in 1897, and operated in Cuba St until 1931. The negatives are mainly portraits – of families, children, men and women,Read more
Two weeks ago I was in Shanghai for the opening of the exhibition Meridian Lines: Contemporary Art from the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa at the China Art Museum with artist Yuk King Tan and Wen Powles, Te Papa’s International Strategy Advisor. The China Art Museum is the newRead more
Te Papa’s latest art exhibition, Angels & Aristocrats, opens on the 20th October in the Level 5 galleries. The exhibition draws on a number of collections from around New Zealand including artworks from Te Papa’s collection which you will see on display. Some of these paintings required attention in the conservation lab beforeRead more
Te Papa has an enormous collection of photographs, negatives and transparencies by Brian Brake (1927 – 88), one of New Zealand’s best known photographers. Brake became famous while working overseas as a photojournalist – one of his best known works is the Monsoon photo essay, which he took in 1960. Read more
A little while ago I told you about the return of the Masterton Museum collection to Aratoi, thereby honouring a 58 year-old agreement. In that collection there were some really interesting items so I thought I would tell you about another one of them. It is a very pretty blueRead more
In any museum collection you will find items or entire collections that were lent at some point in the distant past, sometimes more than a hundred years ago. It is always rewarding when a relationship is re-established with the owner and the items or collection can be returned to itsRead more
In my last post I touched on the shipwreck of the Dundonald on Disappointment Island in 1907, and the rescue of its survivors by the Hinemoa when she was taking scientists to the Auckland Islands. The Auckland Islands were on a major shipping route, but the available charts were not always accurate,Read more
The Amazon Softball Club, the first and last lesbian softball club in New Zealand, has kindly donated a selection of team uniforms and ephemera to Te Papa. The Amazons formed at the height of gay liberation in 1977. The Wellington based club provided a space for lesbians to socialise, findRead more
Te Papa shares the story of modern design through the collection of ceramics, glass and metalwork gifted by Wellingtonian Walter Cook. Featuring selected objects, the new exhibition, Walter Cook: a collector’s quest opens this Saturday on Level 6. Walter Cook’s first purchase initiated him into what he called ‘the addictive habit and thrill of hunting quarryRead more
I’ve been enjoying our scientist’s fieldwork posts. We have scientist’s photographs from several historic field trips in the photography collection. My favourites are in this photo album from the 1907 Expedition to the Subantarctic Islands. The Expedition was initiated by the Canterbury Philosophical Institute with support from the Government, and studied plants, animals, soilsRead more
We have an enormous collection of photographic negatives and transparencies on glass and film, going back to the 1870s. They include all sorts of images from studio portraits to holiday snaps, landscapes, photographs of sports teams, and artists’ negatives and transparencies. Many negatives are chemically unstable and, if left in anRead more
