Blog

Teu le Vā (the Pacific Dimension) and He Korahi Māori (the Māori Dimension) are written into the Museum’s mission. Read about how the Wardrobe Project has reimagined staff uniforms to weave those dimensions into the very fabric of the clothes our staff wear.

Research that began sixteen years ago has, at long last, determined what Matt Rayner (Curator, Land Vertebrates) suspected all along - they may look alike, they may sound alike, but Pterodroma cookii cookii and P. c. orientalis are not the same bird.

For Tokelau Language Week, Curator Pacific Fuli Pereira reflects on some lessons she’s learned, how change is made, and what she hopes to see happen next.

For Niue Language Week, our Documentary Heritage team takes a closer look at the photographic collection of Harry Coleman, who was based in Niue from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Learn about how an Auckland Museum team worked with a conservator from the other side of the world to design a tool for handling rare books - the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

In celebration of Uike Kātoanga‘i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga - Tongan Language Week 2020, we highlight our first edition copy of a well known memoir by William Mariner, recounting his time in Tonga during the years 1806-1810.

How many volunteers does it take to make a wildly successful native bird sanctuary? More than you'd think. Read about how a humble spade tells the story of the committed volunteers who made Tiritiri Matangi a conservation project for the people.

Research Associate Dr Marianne Nyegaard chronicles the first ever identification of a Giant Sunfish larva, and describes how it’s possible that the larvae of such an enormous fish could be so hard to find.

To mark Te Wiki o te reo Māori, Assistant Curator of Entomology Leilani Walker (Whakatōhea) reflects on the history and future of using te reo in the scientific names.

Auckland War Memorial Museum has recently completed the formal acquisition and cataloguing of memorabilia gifted by the 21st Battalion Association after the veteran’s club in Auckland closed its doors in 2005.

For Tuvalu Language Week – Te vaiaso o te ‘Gana Tuvalu’ – we are focusing on books held in our Documentary Heritage collection that discuss food plants of Tuvalu.

For Fiji Language Week, Yumiko Baba (Associate Curator, Botany) takes a closer look at the masiratu, an iconic plant in Fiji that features on everything from stamps to bank notes.