• Tree ferns in the bush

    Read about ferns in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific

  • Mānawatia a Matariki

    There are nine stars in the Matariki star cluster. Learn about each of the stars and their connections in our Collections

A cream-coloured stamp with a green border and rust-coloured image of a bird sitting in a tree.

The Manumea, or tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris), is an endemic bird of Sāmoa, currently on the brink of extinction. How can museums help to protect this national treasure? In this blog, Research Assistant Annika Sung examines how Te Papa’s collections can teach us about the Manumea and its entwined relationship to various aspects of Sāmoan life and culture.Read more

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In: Art, Pacific, Science
Three large tractors in the snow at Antarctica.

As Wikipedian in Residence at Te Papa, Siobhan Leachman researched the research expeditions the museum has undertaken since the Colonial Museum was founded in 1865. Siobhan and Digital Channels Outreach Manager Lucy Schrader show how sharing this information through the open linked data platform Wikidata has made it easier to learn about the expeditions and what they discovered.Read more

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Eight people are looking at a tapa costume in a glass case. One of the people is talking about it.

In 2021, with the Te Papa Foundation’s support, Te Papa acquired a rare book of tapa cloth samples, one of many assembled by Alexander Shaw in 1787. At the wānanga in 2023, artists were given the opportunity to respond to the Shaw book and exchange knowledge between tapa experts from acrossRead more

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A paua shell attached to a large silver finger ring on a white background.

Collections Online hosts over a million items from Te Papa’s collection, each with its own unique story. As part of an internship exploring how blackfoot pāua are represented in Te Papa, Sara Joyce Macdonald highlights a few collection items showing the varied uses of pāua and the importance of that unique taonga to Aotearoa New Zealand.Read more

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In: Art, History, Māori, Photography
A woman in a long blue dress is tying a note to a wall of white paper notes.

As part of this year’s Matariki celebrations, Exhibition Experience Developer Dan Parke talks about creative storytelling in the Mānawatia a Matariki exhibition space on Rongomaraeroa, the marae here at Te Papa. This piece originally appeared in The Post on Wednesday 12 June.Read more

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As part of a summer research project, Lucia Adams from Botany and Annie Barnard from Art worked with Te Papa’s collection of Nancy Adams’ works. Annie and Lucia digitised botanical specimens that Adams collected, enriched catalogue records of her artworks and archival material, and did research and writing about her work and influence. They took a series of field trips to sites that were important in Nancy’s life and work. Here is the third and final in a series of blogs documenting these trips.Read more

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Lya Riley passed away on 18 May, 2024, aged 103. In 2022, Lya generously gifted Te Papa a collection of treasures from her early years in Austria and her married life in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here, Curator New Zealand Histories and Cultures Katie Cooper shares some of Lya’s story and looks back on a very special day spent with Lya and her whānau.Read more

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In: Behind the scenes, History
Four views of long digging implements.

As part of this year’s Matariki celebrations, Public Programming Specialist, Kaupapa Māori Aroha Matchitt-Millar (Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Ngāi Tūhoe) talks about her connection to mātauranga Māori and shares her kōrero about this year’s theme, Matariki Heri Kai, the feast of Matariki. This piece originally appeared in The Post on Wednesday 5 June.Read more

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Ten women are standing and facing the camera and either smiling at each other, or the camera.

In 1787, a series of books composed of samples of barkcloths collected from Hawai‘i, Tahiti and Tonga were published by Alexander Shaw. James Cook collected the cloths during his voyages to the Pacific, and while the books contain only fragments of much larger creations, they highlight the variety of textures and artistry attained through the practices, knowledge and skills of Pacific peoples. Mātauranga Māori Curator Isaac Te Awa and Co-Director Pauline Reynolds take us through some of the makers’ reactions to the Shaw book at the recent wānanga in Tahiti.Read more

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In: Art, Māori, Pacific

In 2021, Te Papa acquired a rare book of tapa cloth (bark cloth) samples cut from larger pieces of tapa collected on Captain Cook’s voyages to the Pacific (1768, 1772, 1776) and represent tapa-making practices from various islands including Hawai‘i, Tahiti and Tonga. Rachel Yates (former Curator Pacific Cultures) initiated the collecting proposal and one of her key intentions behind acquiring the sampler was to ensure that it would be accessible to Pacific communities. In the first of four blogs about this kaupapa, Senior Curator Pacific Histories and Cultures Sean Mallon introduces the continuation of this project and a wānanga that happened in Tahiti in late 2023.Read more

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In: Māori, Pacific