The legendary photographer’s new book Nature – Stilled showcases museum specimens the public rarely sees. Books editor Catherine Woulfe writes: People say “stunning” lightly but that’s really what it felt like, the first time I opened Nature – Stilled. There is no flicking through. You sit and you look properly and it is a pleasure, … Read more
When Te Papa reopens shortly, it’ll mark the end of the first big test of new tumu whakarae/chief executive, Courtney Johnston. Jeremy Rose spoke to Johnston about her vision for the museum, the impact of the pandemic, the return of taonga and making good on the Treaty. In 2016 a Hawaiian delegation came to collect … Read more
UPDATE March 20: Auckland Museum, Auckland Art Gallery and Te Papa in Wellington today announced they are closing their doors from tonight for at least two weeks. Many other galleries and museums remain open for now, but people should check the website before visiting, as the situation is changing fast. Right now, all public galleries … Read more
A conversation between editors about what made an impression in New Zealand visual arts in 2019. We unpack the highs and lows, and the exhibitions both naughty and nice. Warning: includes light interference from Elf on a Shelf. After six months of The Spinoff Art, co-editors Megan Dunn and Mark Amery pause for pavlova and … Read more
A small Canadian town has the weirdest answer to its pest problem – a museum of stuffed and costumed animal dioramas that has become a cult tourist attraction. Possums, stoats and rats are giving our native birds grief, and the New Zealand government has outlined an ambitious plan to get rid of them. All of … Read more
Puawai Cairns, head of mātauranga Māori for Te Papa museum, writes about what biculturalism can and should mean in an institution like a museum. “Institutional biculturalism is often applied like makeup: it can create the appearance desired by both the wearer and the viewer, while beneath the surface the ravages of time remain. In the … Read more
How do museums learn to tell the truth about what they hold in order to become ‘decolonised archives’ asks Puawai Cairns, kaihāpai Mātauranga Māori at Te Papa. ‘Museums are dangerous places because they control the storytelling’ – Moana Jackson For the last few months, my curatorial team – Mātauranga Māori – has been meeting regularly to discuss … Read more
After Europeans arrived, moa were used a metaphor for the feared extinction of Māori themselves, write the authors of a new study. Tracing extinctions that happened centuries ago is difficult, but our collaborative analysis of ancestral sayings, or whakataukī, found that early Māori paid attention to their local fauna and environment and recognised the extinction … Read more
We take great pride in Sir Peter Jackson’s reputation as a filmmaker, but The Great War Exhibition is soaking up millions of public dollars that might have funded so much more, and not just in Wellington, writes military historian Dr Stephen Clarke. Ten years ago I drove the founding director of the new Canadian War … Read more