• Tattooed hands on a clay pot on a wheel

    Mihi ki ngā Ringa Waihanga: Uku | Celebrating Makers: Clay

    Hono atu ki ngā ringauku ki ngā ringamatapaia ki te ako I tēnei mahi, ka toroa ngā tikanga mutunga-kore ki te mahi uku.
    Join ceramic artists and clayworkers, learn the craft, and experience the infinite possibilities of clay.

  • View of the Rongomaraeroa marae, including the wharenui

    Rongomaraeroa | Te Marae

    All people have a right to stand on our marae, Rongomaraeroa, through a shared whakapapa and the mana of the taonga held in Te Papa’s collections.

  • Māori designs and carving

    Ko Rongowhakaata: Ruku i te Pō, Ruku i te Ao | The Story of Light and Shadow

    Discover awe-inspiring taonga (treasures), innovative contemporary art, and powerful stories of survival and tenacity from Rongowhakaata iwi (tribe).

  • Visitors in the Te Taiao | Nature exhibition look at moa skeletons

    Te Taiao | Nature

    Mātauranga Māori meets science in these interactive exhibitions about our weird and wonderful wildlife, our shaky land, and the innovative ways we’re protecting our natural taonga.

  • Composite image of a hei tiki, a photo showing a woman standing on a mountainside, and an octopus specimen in a jar

    Dive into the collections

    Explore 800,000 artworks, taonga, photographs, collection objects, and botanical and zoological specimens from Te Papa’s collections. Learn about different cultures – or your own! – or find inspiration for your own artworks.

VisitToro mai

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    Exhibitions

    Exhibitions

    Celebrate Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique natural environment. See Gallipoli through the eyes and words of eight ordinary New Zealanders. Immerse yourself in a room of colour. Hear extraordinary stories from young refugees.

  • Children with facepaint on playing in front of flags
    Events

    Events

    Our exciting programme of events runs all year. Watch song and dance performances, join in with kids activities and cultural days, hear from our experts, and much more.

  • A mobile phone displaying the Te Papa NZSL mobile guide is superimposed onto a photo of the moa skeletons on display at Te Papa
    Explore Te Papa in New Zealand Sign Language

    Explore Te Papa in New Zealand Sign Language

    Learn about exhibitions and how to find your way around the museum. Discover Te Papa’s mobile guides on your own device.

  • Te Papa External View. Photograph by Michael Hall. Te Papa
    Plan your visit

    Plan your visit

    Get directions, download the museum map, find out about our parking facilities, reserve a wheelchair, and more.

ExhibitionsNgā whakaaturanga

  • Illustration featuring many elements contained in a circular design, including a kite, the Te Papa building, male and female figures, people looking at art, someone skating, and people gardening
    Wana Ake Festival

    Wana Ake Festival

    Create! Look! Explore! Celebrate summer at Te Papa with a dynamic festival of events, activities, exhibitions, and fun.

    On now
    12 Dec 2020 – 18 Apr 2021

    Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga

  • Tattoed hands working on a clay pot on a pottery wheel
    Celebrating Makers: Clay

    Celebrating Makers: Clay

    Join ceramic artists and clayworkers, learn the craft, and experience the infinite possibilities of clay.

    Closing soon
    18 Feb – 28 Feb 2021

    Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga

  • Black wool in a web stretched across a museum gallery floor, with white numbers sitting in random parts of it.
    Chiharu Shiota: The web of time

    Chiharu Shiota: The web of time

    The web of time, an installation by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota, creates the vision of a night sky studded with constellations of numbers.

    On now
    On display now

    Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga

  • Two women holding up a flag
    National Treasures

    National Treasures

    See the taonga and hear the stories behind the TV1 series National Treasures.

    Opening soon
    8 Mar – 18 Apr 2021

    Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga

  • Inside the nature exhibition
    Te Taiao | Nature

    Te Taiao | Nature

    You’re the explorer in our Te Taiao | Nature exhibition zone. Celebrate Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique natural environment – and get ready for our future as kaitiaki.

    On now
    Permanent exhibition

    Exhibition Ngā whakaaturanga

See all exhibitions

EventsNgā kaupapa motuhake

  • Illustration of tūi, weka, giraffe weevil, kōwhai, and fern
    Weka Wednesdays: Storytelling – Superheroes of the Pacific

    Weka Wednesdays: Storytelling – Superheroes of the Pacific

    Bring your little weka along to one of our free weekly sessions in Te Taiao | Nature, Tangata o le Moana, and Mana Whenua. This programme is designed for tamariki aged 7 and under and their whānau.

    Every Wednesday morning during the school term

    Event Ngā kaupapa motuhake

  • People sitting on a lawn in front of a large shape that looks like a bronze egg
    EggFruit with Barbarian Productions

    EggFruit with Barbarian Productions

    Step inside Barbarian’s mysterious nest-like capsule and add your voice to an exchange of views around the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Thu 25 Feb – Sun 28 Feb, check for times

    Event Ngā kaupapa motuhake

  • A dark room with screens and printed words on the walls
    Meet the Scientists Evening

    Meet the Scientists Evening

    Come and hear from some of the experts involved in developing Te Taiao | Nature. Join us for drinks and nibbles in Hīnātore before exploring the exhibition.

    Fri 12 Mar 2021, 3.30pm–6.00pm

    Event Ngā kaupapa motuhake

See all events

Explore Te Papa at homeToroa Te Papa i te kāinga

  • A New Zealand landscape scene with the Matariki star cluster in the sky
    Matariki: The Māori New Year

    Matariki: The Māori New Year

    Learn all about Matariki and see our events. Matariki is a time to gather with family and friends to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and plan for the future.

  • View of Oriental Bay, with Wellington Harbour on the left and houses lining the street on the right. A crowd of hundreds is walking along the boardwalk
    Online jigsaw puzzles using our collections

    Online jigsaw puzzles using our collections

    Take a moment or two to relax with online jigsaw puzzles using taonga from our collections. Come back frequently to find new ones!

  • A face mask woven from flax muka on a black background
    Making Histories: Communities and Covid-19

    Making Histories: Communities and Covid-19

    Making Histories is a Te Papa project which aims to support visitors and communities around New Zealand to reflect on and share their experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Two people looking at the camera
    Raranga Matihiko TV – Home learning

    Raranga Matihiko TV – Home learning

    The Raranga Matihiko team and our Learning team have created 16 episodes, designed for home learning for junior and senior students, that weave digital technologies around museum taonga, and exploring kaitiakitanga (guardianship and protection).

  • Waitangi Day activity book
    Treaty of Waitangi learning resources

    Treaty of Waitangi learning resources

    Watch interviews, download activity books and learn more about the Treaty of Waitangi and what it means to all New Zealanders.

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    The Current

    The Current

    Add your voice to The Current and help solve New Zealand’s toughest nature challenges. We’ll share your anonymous response with researchers via data.govt.nz.

  • Maramataka dial is displayed on a wall. To the left, a plant hangs into the frame. To the right, a taxidermied penguin appears in the frame. Under the dial can be seen an open book
    How to use the Maramataka | Māori lunar calendar

    How to use the Maramataka | Māori lunar calendar

    Print a Maramataka dial, explore its energy levels, and use it to plan activities with your whānau.

  • Illustration of a tattooed Māori chief 1784
    Tāmoko | Māori tattoos: history, practice, and meanings

    Tāmoko | Māori tattoos: history, practice, and meanings

    Discover the history and practice of tāmoko, and find out why the lines of a moko carved in skin represent much more than a tattoo.

  • Sailing vessel
    Voyage and discovery in the Pacific

    Voyage and discovery in the Pacific

    The history of the discovery of Aotearoa New Zealand goes back a millennium and contains the stories of many fine explorers, from Kupe to Cook. Here, explore Pacific exploration and European colonisation through our taonga, kōrero, and events.

  • A kaka, a type of parrot with red under its wings
    Birds of New Zealand

    Birds of New Zealand

    Birds are an important part of New Zealand's nationhood. We are the only nation where the people are colloquially known by a bird name – 'Kiwi'.

  • Manuka, Leptospermum scoparium J.R.Forst. & G.Forst., collected 02 Apr 2009, southern Wairarapa, New Zealand. CC BY-NC-NDCC licence. Te Papa (SP087325)
    Māori medicine

    Māori medicine

    Rongoā Māori is the traditional Māori healing system. Ailments are treated in a holistic manner.

  • Green fence with a hand-painted sign on it saying, 'Give nothing to racism' in green and black.
    Antiracism and activism

    Antiracism and activism

    Articles on protest, decolonisation, and antiracism from our experts and across the web.

  • A man receiving a Samoan tatoo in Te Papa
    Sāmoan tatau (tattoo) meanings, stories, tools, and history

    Sāmoan tatau (tattoo) meanings, stories, tools, and history

    Pacific curator Sean Mallon and Sāmoan tatau artists Sulu’ape Steve Looney and Tuigamala Andy Tauafiafi talk about the meanings and history of Sāmoan tattooing.

  • Close-up of 1905 All Blacks jersey, featuring a brown crest on the top and a large silver fern on the left-hand side. The jersey is black
    The significance of the silver fern

    The significance of the silver fern

    The ‘silver fern’ (Cyathea dealbata) – ponga in te reo Māori – is a species of tree fern only found in New Zealand, and as such has become a potent symbol.

  • Kete whakairo (patterned bag), 1800-1833, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 1977. Te Papa (ME013967)
    Māori weaving

    Māori weaving

    Learn about the goddess of te whare pora (the house of weaving) and the different types of weaving that are important in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Get involved Whakaeke mai