It’s been three years since Covid-19 triggered lockdowns around the world, including here in Aotearoa New Zealand. We’ve just published a collection of online comics, highlighting a multitude of experiences faced by members of the Chinese New Zealand community during this time. Here, curator Grace Gassin introduces The Pandemic Chronicles.Read more
It has been over two years since Aotearoa New Zealand went into lockdown in the hopes of limiting the spread of Covid-19. While not yet behind us, we are now in a position to be able to reflect on those early stages of the pandemic. Throughout this time a myriad of responses were put into place with the community at the very centre. Master of Museum and Practice Student Kate Hudspith-Gooch spent a one-month internship at Te Papa, and was tasked with conducting a small-scale research project into one of the lesser-acknowledged responses to the pandemic – iwi-led Covid-19 Checkpoints – as a part of the ongoing Making Histories: Communities and Covid-19 Project. Kate talks about her research here.Read more
Around the time of last year’s nationwide lockdown, a coalition of local Korean community groups came together to address gaps in the national Covid-19 response. Here, Curator Asian New Zealand Histories Dr Grace Gassin highlights their work.Read more
Being in lockdown in Wellington didn’t mean an end to fieldwork for some of our staff. Botany Curator Leon Perrie and Researcher Lara Shepherd – who are in the same bubble – used their lockdown walks to collect roadside weeds for our herbarium. But what did they find within only a short walk from home?Read more
One question, 200 answers. Public Programmes Specialist Emma Ng explores the creative way that theatre company Barbarian Productions gathered opinions on Aotearoa’s Covid-19 response.Read more
In February we ran a workshop focussing on the Covid-19 experiences of people from international student and migrant backgrounds (including partners and family members), co-facilitated by researcher Sarah Jane D. Lipura. Here, Curator Asian New Zealand Histories Dr Grace Gassin shares insights from the kōrero. If there is one thingRead more
It’s been a year since Aotearoa New Zealand went into lockdown in a move to restrict the spread of Covid-19. During this month-long period people sought to process the magnitude of what was happening through creative expression and entrepreneurial adaptations. Read about three taonga that Te Papa has collected to tell the story of this time.Read more
Curator Asian New Zealand Histories Dr Grace Gassin introduces Making Histories – a Te Papa project exploring different experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
Just over six months ago, we lived in a very different Aotearoa. Six months later, what would we remember from then? On May 28 2020, we reopened our doors to the public after three months of closure due to Covid-19 lockdown. To acknowledge the time we’d spent apart, and to welcome our manuhiri (visitors) back into the building, we wanted to give them the opportunity to capture a small, personal moment in history, a snapshot in time as we collectively adjusted to our ‘new normal’.Read more
Our exhibition Bug Lab was coming to the end of its run at Chicago’s Field Museum when its deinstall was interrupted by Covid-19. So what happened?Read more
What if we all had to work from home for an extended period? Many of the Natural History staff could research and write papers from home, but what about the people whose jobs normally involved handling specimens every day?Read more
During lockdown, we’ve been encouraged to ‘post’ objects in our windows to offer symbols of solidarity – teddy bears and Anzac poppies – for people walking past, looking in. Rebecca Rice, Curator Historical New Zealand Art reverses the direction and looks at works in our collection where the artist shows us views from the inside out.Read more
Our building may be closed, but Lara Shepherd takes us through the important work that the Natural History team are doing from home. What has the team been working on in their bubbles? How is collection management continuing with no access to the collection? And what’s on the menu for our flesh-eating beetles?Read more
