Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Ko Te Maori tonu he kaupapa i whakaara i te ahurea Māori, i noho hoki hei matapihi mō tāwāhi ki ngā taonga Māori. Atu i te tau 1984 ki te tau 1986 ka tāpoi te whakaaturanga i Amerika, ā, i te hokinga mai ka tapaina ko Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai The Return Home.
E riakina ana te whakaaturanga o Te Maori i tōna panoni i ngā whakariterite a ngā whare taonga me ngā taiwhanga toi i ngā taonga Māori.
Ko tōna 174 o ngā taonga a ngā iwi i tāwharautia ki ngā whare taonga puta noa i te motu. O ēnei taonga, 38 i noho ki te National Museum, arā, te mātārere o Te Papa.
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From 1984 to 1986, theTe Maori exhibition was a pivotal moment in Māori cultural revival showcasing traditional artwork on the international stage. It toured the United States from 1984 to 1986, then when it returned home, it toured Aotearoa New Zealand as Te Maori: Te Hokinga Mai The Return Home.
Te Maori is widely acclaimed as an exhibition that changed the way that museums and art galleries interpreted and managed taonga Māori.
The exhibition consisted of 174 taonga from different iwi that were in New Zealand museums throughout Aotearoa. Of these taonga, 38 came from the National Museum, the predecessor of Te Papa.
The pivotal Te Maori exhibition stands as one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant cultural achievements, celebrated both domestically and internationally. Read how it came about including the timeline of key events leading up to its opening in New York in September 1984.
Once the Te Maori exhibition completed touring the American museums, the taonga (treasures) were flown home to Aotearoa. View the images of Tangata Whenua welcoming the taonga home.
In this 1985 short documentary, narrator Don Selwyn Maru sets out to summarise the key elements of Māori culture and history and the opening of the landmark exhibition Te Maori in New York in 1984.
Watch on Iwi Whitiāhua NZOnScreen’s website.
When 174 important taonga (treasures) travelled from Aotearoa to New York for the Te Maori exhibition, people had to go too – the Metropolitan Museum in New York had to be warmed, the tapu or sacred restrictions of the new place had to be dealt with, and the cloak of words had to dress the taonga.
Watch on Iwi Whitiāhua NZ On Screen.
This episode of Koha in 1985 shows two unique perspectives on the Te Maori exhibition in America with interviews with Indigenous Seneca artist Peter Jemison, and John Kaaho, a Tūhoe security guard and kaitiaki (guardian) from Ruatāhuna for the New York exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Watch on Iwi Whitiāhua NZOnScreen’s website.
For the 40th anniversary of Te Maori, Moana Parata talks about how that exhibition and Te Māori: Te Hokinga Mai The Return Home had an impact on her own mahi (work) as Kaitiaki Taonga Collection Manager Humanities at Te Papa Tongarewa.
National Services Te Paerangi shares the kōrero of Māori who worked in and with museums throughout the past 40 years. They reflect on the influence Te Maori had on their lives and the ways they engage with taonga.
National Services Te Paerangi shares the kōrero of Māori who worked in and with museums throughout the past 40 years. They reflect on the influence Te Maori had on their lives and the ways they engage with taonga.
Watch the kōrero from wāhine Māori as they discuss the importance of wāhine representation in Māori arts, and what has shifted since the 1984 international exhibition, Te Maori.
A special live recording of a Taringa Podcast episode, focusing on the 40th anniversary of the Te Maori exhibition – with Honiara Love and Atawhai Tibble.
Tairawhiti Museum and National Services Te Paerangi hosted a panel talk reflecting on the 40 years since Te Maori, sharing insights on the current landscape, and future directions for museum spaces with Tapuhi Broughton-Tuapawa, Victor Walker, Ana Sciascia, Dr Arapata Hakiwai, Vicki-Anne Heikell, Dr Sandy Adsett, Dr David Butts, and Paora Tibble.
Watch the panel talk at on Turanga FM Media’s YouTube channel.
The 40th anniversary of Te Maori inspired two events to improve its Wikipedia article. Te Herenga Waka Museum Studies intern Elise Goodge explores what made these events so unique.
In 2016, Curator Contemporary Māori Art Megan Tamati-Quinell was invited to be on a panel about Indigenious art curatorial practice at a symposium, where she talked about Te Maori, its influences, and legacies – including curatorial practice – and asks about the development of contemporary Maori art curators as well as her own practice.
2009 marked the 25th anniversary of the exhibition Te Maori. Then Curator Māori Awhina Tamarapa reflects on the effect that exhibition and the following exhibition Te Māori – Te Hokinga Mai that toured Aotearoa New Zealand after it's international success.
The 2025 Michael Volkerling Lecture is presented by former Te Papa Curator Dr Awhina Tamarapa.
