Making a collection of Myosotis glabrescens (SP108859). Feb 2020. Photo by Heidi Meudt @ Te Papa.

Botany Researcher Heidi Meudt is on a mission to find and make new research collections of all native New Zealand forget-me-nots. It can be a challenge to find some of them, particularly if we don’t know a lot about them or where they are to be found. Read more

By:
On:
In: Science
Woman holding a bone in a room full of drawers and shelves

The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage visited Te Papa’s natural history collection today to make an announcement that will be widely celebrated by the museum sector, as well as by anyone who values and appreciates New Zealand’s natural and cultural heritage as Curator Vertebrates Colin Miskelly explains.Read more

By:
On:
In: Behind the scenes, Science

For over 25 years, Guy Ngan’s large-scale Forest in the sun (1976) hung in the Beehive before being gifted to our collection. Now it’s back on display, exhibiting at The Dowse until September. Senior Digital Editor Daniel Crichton-Rouse speaks to Curator Textiles Anne Peranteau about the prep work involved, as well as the artwork’s weavers Joan Calvert and Jean Ngan.Read more

By:
On:
In: Art, Behind the scenes

Lots of us care about saving the whales, but not many get as hands-on as technician Stephanie Ho. She’s spent the last nine months caring for whale bones in Te Papa’s collections. It’s a messy, smelly and painstaking job, but it’s protecting these important specimens for the future. Stephanie tells us more.Read more

By:
On:
In: Behind the scenes, Science

Accompanying the portrait wall in Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand are digital interactives that allow you to dive deeper into the conservation efforts that prepared the paintings for exhibition, and reveal hidden histories. Conservator Paintings Linda Waters writes about what the back of a painting can tell you.Read more

By:
On:
In: Art, Behind the scenes