A face mask woven from flax muka on a black background
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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.

In the midst of these uncertain times, it also aims to foster longer-term discussions about issues such as work, health and wellbeing, racism, and inequality in Aotearoa by highlighting under-represented experiences and perspectives.

  • A handpainted sign on the side of the road with the words 'Te Urewera Closed to hunting and fishing. Locals and essential workers only'"
    Making Histories: iwi, hapū and whānau Covid-19 Checkpoints – research, reflections, and what next?

    Making Histories: iwi, hapū and whānau Covid-19 Checkpoints – research, reflections, and what next?

    Master of Museum and Practice Student Kate Hudspith-Gooch spent a one-month internship at Te Papa, conducting a small-scale research project into one of the lesser-acknowledged responses to the pandemic – iwi-led Covid-19 Checkpoints – as a part of the Making Histories: Communities and Covid-19 Project.

  • A woman sitting at a desk with another woman standing in front of a large screen showing Covid-19 signs in the Korean language.
    The community coalition bridging the gaps in Aotearoa’s Covid-19 response

    The community coalition bridging the gaps in Aotearoa’s Covid-19 response

    After 2020’s nationwide lockdown, a coalition of local Korean community groups came together to address gaps in the national Covid-19 response. Their born-digital objects and stories are being recorded by Te Papa, in collaboration with Turnbull Library, as part of Te Papa’s Making Histories project.

  • Doctors scrubs made of material featuring highly decorative Polynesian motifs in brown and black
    A year since lockdown: Collecting to tell the story of Covid-19

    A year since lockdown: Collecting to tell the story of Covid-19

    It’s been a year since Aotearoa New Zealand first went into lockdown in a move to restrict the spread of Covid-19. During this month-long period people sought to process the magnitude of what was happening through creative expression and entrepreneurial adaptations. Find out what we’ve been collecting from that time.

  • People sitting on a lawn in front of a large shape that looks like a bronze egg
    Aotearoa speaks: Are we a team of five million?

    Aotearoa speaks: Are we a team of five million?

    Are we a team of five million? Hundreds of people recorded their answers to this question in the EggFruit, a mobile recording booth that popped up next to Te Papa in the last week of February. So what did they say?

  • Mural painted onto a garage of the Palestinian flag with a cityscape painted over top and the words ‘Livin in lockdown’
    Migrant and international student perspectives on Covid-19 in Aotearoa

    Migrant and international student perspectives on Covid-19 in Aotearoa

    In February we ran a workshop focussing on the Covid-19 experiences of people from international student and migrant backgrounds. Here, Curator Asian New Zealand Histories Dr Grace Gassin shares insights from the kōrero.

  • A woman standing in front of a group of seated people talking about what is on the screen
    Making histories: reflecting on experiences of Covid-19

    Making histories: reflecting on experiences of Covid-19

    Curator Asian New Zealand Histories Dr Grace Gassin introduces Making Histories – a Te Papa project exploring different experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • A collection of representations of the Covid-19 virus, made from an assortment of materials
    Kowheori-19 │ Covid-19

    Kowheori-19 │ Covid-19

    Our Covid-19 collecting themes include life in lockdown, official campaigns, photographs of spontaneous community messaging, essential workers, mask making and wearing, Māori responses, New Zealanders of Asian and Pacific heritages and their experiences, racialisation of the virus, and Pacific region responses.

  • This postcard reads: Just a little message from POST-LOCKDOWN PAST!!! (Boo!) I'm so glad I got to travel with you (especially before the borders shut). Hopefully we can catch up sometime - I think we both deserve a hot chocolate for getting home in time.
    Postcards to the Future – where was your head at?

    Postcards to the Future – where was your head at?

    In May 2020, we reopened our doors to the public after three months of closure due to Covid-19 lockdown. We invited our visitors to write a postcard to themselves about their experiences of lockdown, and we sent them out six months later.

  • A brown face mask woven with flax on a white background
    Research project: Clothing the Pandemic (ICOM Solidarity Project)

    Research project: Clothing the Pandemic (ICOM Solidarity Project)

    Connecting international museums and curators documenting and contextualising the use of facemasks during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020–21.

  • White T-shirt with a black print saying ‘I am from Wuhan, this city is not a virus, I am not a virus’ and a picture of a face mask
    Research project: Making Sense of Pandemic

    Research project: Making Sense of Pandemic

    Understanding the experiences of ethnic Chinese in Aotearoa during the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Graffiti on a concrete wall beside a road. It says "Stand Together (2m apart)"
    Research project: Making Histories

    Research project: Making Histories

    Exploring emerging and under-represented perspectives on the Covid-19 pandemic.