Behind the scenes

Man makes a full-size Haast’s eagle model

Behind the scenes of Te Taiao | Nature

See how we made Te Taiao | Nature through a series of behind the scenes videos and articles.

A close up photo of a pressed plant specimen

Captain Cook’s 150-year-old kōwhai specimens uncover Rapa Nui (Easter Island) secrets

A single specimen of toromiro – a close relative of our own kōwhai and extinct in the wild – has been discovered in our botany collection, where it’s been kept safe for 150 years.

A 10-year hunt for a tiny parasitic ghost orchid

Would you have the patience to spend 10 years trying to find something practically invisible? Botanist Carlos Lehnebach recently discovered his ‘holy grail’ – a collection of tiny ghost orchids in the Wellington region.

Conserving 2,500-year-old objects

Conservator Robert Clendon takes us through the conservation techniques he’s using on some of the international material in our collections – two Greek objects around 2,500 years old, and a 1894 copy of the famous Portland Vase.

Gloved hands hold a book open on a page picturing a huge ugly seal

Fabulous beasts and where they lurk in our library

A steampunk Pokémon sea dragon, mutant whales, and a sabre-toothed devil bunny of the Aztecs. Librarian Martin Lewis (aka @RareBookGuy) presents his favourite curious creatures while researching this month.

Close-up of carving on a red piano with Māori design

The big OE: How Oceania’s treasures made their way to London’s Royal Academy

The opening of Oceania sees 500 years of Pacific art take centre-stage at the Royal Academy in London. With six objects from our collection featuring in the exhibition, Collection Manager Shane James provides a glimpse into how some of the Pacific’s most revered taonga made their way to London.

The secrets found on the backs of paintings

Conservator Paintings Linda Waters writes about what the back of a painting can tell you.

Te reo Kiwi: Are you using Māori every day?

Te Papa is always looking for creative ways to promote te reo Māori. What are some of the ways we’re doing that?

Conserving Rongowhakaata’s fragile ‘Iron Man’

Conservator Nirmala Balram talks through the process in stabilising a fragile poutokomanawa (centre post) called Rongotueruora, affectionately known as ‘Iron Man’ due to his iron shoulder pads and rāpaki (skirt).

Cigarette packets and chocolate boxes: How we used to store our collections

Would you be surprised to see natural history specimens stored in colourful vintage cigarette packets? Curator Alan Tennyson and conservator Robert Clendon shed light on past practice.

‘It’s the objects that sparkle, not me’: A day in the life of an art collection manager

Art collection manager Anna Brookes shares with us what she gets up to day to day and her tips for getting into the industry.

Putting the pieces back together after the earthquake

On 14 Nov 2016 an earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale shook Wellington awake. All-in-all Te Papa’s buildings and its collection were virtually unscathed. Out of over two million collection objects, only nine were damaged.

The heaviest, smallest, oldest, and smelliest books in our library

Our Research Librarian Martin Lewis, aka @RareBookGuy, takes a look at some of the more unusual questions he has received on tours of the Te Papa library collection.

Weaponry in the Pacific Collections store

Behind the scenes in 360 degrees

New technology is making it easier than ever to offer everyone a glimpse behind the scenes at Te Papa. Come back of house with us and see the collections that are usually hidden away.