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2012 News and media releases

  • Te Papa celebrates New Zealand rugby

    Te Papa celebrates New Zealand rugby

    17 December 2012 - The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) welcomed the release today by the Government of the Host Nation Report on Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011), ahead of a new exhibition at Te Papa which celebrates the tournament and rugby.

  • Game Masters opens

    Game Masters opens

    12 December 2012 - Te Papa’s summer blockbuster exhibition, Game Masters, opens this weekend (Saturday 15 December) with an action-packed programme of dance contests, caricatures, and free face-painting.

  • Gingerbread housing boom

    Gingerbread housing boom

    30 November 2012 - Te Papa is building Wellington’s biggest ever gingerbread house.

  • Māori ancestral remains return from Canada and USA

    Māori ancestral remains return from Canada and USA

    28 November 2012 - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is please to have four Māori ancestral remains returning from the USA and Canada.

  • Chairman Mao's Feather Cloak (Kahu Huruhuru)

    Chairman Mao's Feather Cloak (Kahu Huruhuru)

    31 October 2012 - A beautiful kahu huruhuru (Feather Cloak), from the collection of the National Museum of China, will go on show during Te Papa’s touring exhibitions Kura Pounamu: Treasured Stone of Aotearoa New Zealand and Brian Brake: Lens on China and New Zealand.

  • Two New Zealand games included in Game Masters at Te Papa

    Two New Zealand games included in Game Masters at Te Papa

    9 October 2012 - Two games by New Zealand designers are to be included in the blockbuster new exhibition Game Masters when it opens at Te Papa on 15 December 2012.

  • Te Papa Purchases Iconic Artworks at the Paris Family Auction

    Te Papa Purchases Iconic Artworks at the Paris Family Auction

    20 September 2012 - Te Papa is delighted to announce that it has purchased iconic artworks from the Les and Milly Paris Collection for the national collection

  • Ancestral remains to be returned from Australia

    Ancestral remains to be returned from Australia

    4 October 2012 - In early October, 22 kōiwi tangata (ancestral remains) are to be returned to New Zealand from J.L. Shellshear Museum at The University of Sydney and the Western Australian Museum in Perth.

  • Uniformity: Cracking the dress code

    Uniformity: Cracking the dress code

    11 September 2012 - Uniformity: Cracking the dress code, a new Te Papa exhibition opening Thursday 27 September 2012, unlocks the origins and meanings behind uniforms and how they influence what we wear today.

  • Contemporary New Zealand art heading to Shanghai

    Contemporary New Zealand art heading to Shanghai

    31 August 2012 - Te Papa is delighted to announce that it has been invited to contribute a selection of contemporary New Zealand art as part of a major international art exhibition for the reopening of the Shanghai Art Museum, China, in October 2012.

  • McCahon Painting Gifted to Te Papa

    McCahon Painting Gifted to Te Papa

    22 August 2012 - Te Papa is pleased to announce that Colin McCahon's painting Landscape theme and variations: series B (1963) has recently entered the national art collection.

  • Te Papa's plan for art takes shape

    Te Papa's plan for art takes shape

    7 August 2012 - "Art at Te Papa has been a subject of debate for many years, something we are addressing through our strategic plans in both the short and long term" says Michael Houlihan, Chief Executive at Te Papa.

  • National Book Awards Announced

    National Book Awards Announced

    2 August 2012 - The overall winners of the New Zealand Post Book Awards were announced at a gala ceremony held at the Auckland Museum last night.

  • Ceramics, glass and metalwork in new exhibition at Te Papa

    Ceramics, glass and metalwork in new exhibition at Te Papa

    12 July 2012 - Te Papa shares the story of modern design through the collection of ceramics, glass and metalwork gifted by Wellingtonian Walter Cook.

  • Red Piano and Bronze Bulls coming to Wellington

    Red Piano and Bronze Bulls coming to Wellington

    27 July 2012 - After a successful season at the Venice Biennale, in Paris and Christchurch, Michael Parekowhai’s On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer will make its final stop at the national museum, Te Papa.

  • Te Papa strengthens its commitment to art

    Te Papa strengthens its commitment to art

    31 May 2012 - Te Papa, in partnership with the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, has appointed the Gallery's Senior Curator, Mary Kisler, to lead the Museum's art team initially for the next six months.

  • A tribute to the art of Māori cloak weaving

    A tribute to the art of Māori cloak weaving

    21 May 2012 - Latest free exhibition to open at Te Papa, Kahu Ora | Living Cloaks, celebrates the specialist art form of kākahu (Māori cloak weaving), and weavers, as the maintainers of this precious knowledge.

  • People of Aotearoa New Zealand are invited to celebrate Matariki at Te Papa

    People of Aotearoa New Zealand are invited to celebrate Matariki at Te Papa

    9 May 2012 - Every year in late autumn, the stars of Matariki disappear from our evening sky. Around early June, the reappearance of these stars on the eastern horizon in the early morning sky signifies the Māori New Year.

  • Supporting Young Musicians for New Zealand Music Month

    Supporting Young Musicians for New Zealand Music Month

    30 April 2012 - Every Sunday during New Zealand Music Month at Te Papa, our nation’s young musicians will have the chance to learn from those in the know, about the ins and outs of the music industry.

  • New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt Welcomed into National Collection

    New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt Welcomed into National Collection

    30 April 2012 - The poignant stories of 140 New Zealanders, whose lives were lost to HIV and AIDS related illnesses, will now be shared with visitors when the New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt is welcomed to Te Papa in early May.

  • Age no barrier to performing at New Zealand Post Kaumātua Kapa Haka

    Age no barrier to performing at New Zealand Post Kaumātua Kapa Haka

    25 June 2014 - Up to 300 performers between the ages of 50 and 98 will take part in the New Zealand Post Kaumātua Kapa Haka at Te Papa this weekend (28 and 29 June 2014).

  • Anzac Commemorations at Te Papa

    Anzac Commemorations at Te Papa

    19 April 2012 - Anzac Day is a time to commemorate all men and women of the Pacific who have given their service and life during war.

  • Te Papa Honours 40 years of New Zealand/Chinese Diplomacy 新西兰国家博物馆庆祝新西兰与中国建交40周年

    Te Papa Honours 40 years of New Zealand/Chinese Diplomacy 新西兰国家博物馆庆祝新西兰与中国建交40周年

    17 April 2012 - As the New Zealand and Chinese Governments mark the fortieth anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, the National Museums of New Zealand and China are set to strengthen the bonds of the two cultures as they prepare to exchange exhibitions.

  • Te Papa launches Save our Services campaign

    Te Papa launches Save our Services campaign

    5 April 2012 - As Wellington City Council asks city ratepayers for their feedback on their long-term council plan, Te Papa is asking its Wellington visitors to speak up and help us save our funding.

  • Te Papa Demonstrates Impressive Return on Council Investment

    Te Papa Demonstrates Impressive Return on Council Investment

    3 April 2012 - For every dollar Wellington City Council invests in Te Papa, it gets $41 back in contributions to the capital’s GDP, supporting the local tourist economy and strengthening communities in Wellington.

  • The Journey of Tino Rangatiratanga Heads to Mexico

    The Journey of Tino Rangatiratanga Heads to Mexico

    30 March 2012 - Following a successful season on display in Paris, Te Papa is proud to announce the opening of the hugely successful E Tū Ake: Standing Strong at the Museo Nacional de las Culturas in Mexico City on March 31 under the title of Orgullo Māori: E Tu Ake.

  • Coolest little capital's Top 40 Museum

    Coolest little capital's Top 40 Museum

    30 March 2012 - One of the world’s most popular arts publications has ranked Te Papa in its top 40 museums, above institutions like New York’s Guggenheim and the Getty Centre in Los Angeles.

  • Busy week of final touches heralds return of kiwi treasures

    Busy week of final touches heralds return of kiwi treasures

    16 March 2012 - The dedicated work of conservationists at Te Papa has culminated in the return of two of our most loved items to display.

  • Canada Welcomes Whales Tohorā

    Canada Welcomes Whales Tohorā

    1 March 2012 - Tere tohorā, Tere tangata - Where whales go, people follow

  • Storm (Petrel) in a Teacup

    Storm (Petrel) in a Teacup

    22 February 2012 - The enigmatic New Zealand storm petrel was brought off the extinction list in 2003, when it was sighted first off Whitianga then in the Hauraki Gulf.

  • Collecting Contemporary: Building the National Art Collection

    Collecting Contemporary: Building the National Art Collection

    22 February 2012 - Key works in the development of contemporary art in New Zealand feature in Te Papa’s latest edition of the Collecting Contemporary exhibition on Level 5.