Sosefina Andy is the first recipient of our Helen Hitchings scholarship for postgraduate fine art students. Here she explains the origins of her methodology and what inspires her work. My art teacher in high school, Ms. Karanga, was my first art critic. I started to slowly develop an interest inRead more

I recently delivered a paper on the New Zealand sculptor Margaret Butler (1883-1947) at the University of Otago conference, ‘Making Women Visible’. Although one or two of her sculptures are occasionally exhibited, she is next to invisible to the wide public, certainly far more obscure than her older contemporary FrancesRead more

Kia ora – I’m Louisa Hormann and I am a History Honours graduate of Victoria University. With the 100 year anniversary of the First World War upon us, it has been my job this summer to research and update Te Papa’s First World War Collections Online. I have discovered thatRead more

This blog comes from our lovely Audience Engagement intern, Shonagh Lowerson-Head: On Sunday 2nd March, as part of our Seaweek Family Fun Day, a new sea monster was created: the Te Papa taniwha. But it’s story starts earlier than that. A week previous, the materials were gathered from Evans BayRead more

With the recent death of Len Castle, New Zealand has lost one of its greatest potters who developed a long and innovative approach to clay that can be bound up in the search for national identity. Castle began working with clay from 1947 experimenting with commercial clays and Westmere beachRead more

A Garden by Paul Cullen has recently opened on the Sculpture Terrace’s Outer Terrace. The project draws on Paul’s interest in the history and practice of garden design and also his ongoing interest in the methods and models of science. The work was installed over a two week period beginningRead more