2024/2025 International Exhibition Programme

Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum announces an exciting line-up of international touring exhibitions coming to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland over the course of 2024 and 2025. 

Auckland Museum Tumu Whakarae Chief Executive David Reeves says, “Our upcoming exhibition programme offers something for everyone, showcasing a diverse range of stories that will intrigue, entertain and inspire visitors of all ages.” 

“Sourced from leading international museums, each exhibition opens a window to a different world. Over the next two years, visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of exhibition experiences, including a post-human realm that is equal parts playful and poignant; an exploration of nature’s vampires and the myths they inspired; and a bold celebration of the power and creativity of the world’s most iconic performers,” says Reeves. 

Opening on 29 May 2024, RELICS: A New World Rises is an immersive exhibition from the minds of Australian LEGO® Masters Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler. The exhibition explores an imagined future where LEGO® minifigure civilisations have evolved, and now thrive, in discarded treasures. During its premiere at the South Australian Museum in early 2023, RELICS broke all attendance records, making it the best-performing exhibition of the museum’s 167-year history.  

Coming in December 2024, Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches explores the unique intersection between science and culture fact, and fantasy, from one of the world’s leading museums of natural history and world culture, the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada. From mosquitoes and ticks to vampires, Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches explores the incredible diversity, evolution and interconnected world of nature’s vampires, and the myths, legends, and pop culture they have inspired. 

Looking forward to 2025, Auckland Museum will be bringing the critically acclaimed DIVA from London’s V&A. DIVA celebrates the power and creativity of iconic performers who have made their voices heard from the 19th century to today. Spanning fashion, photography, design, costume, music and live performance, DIVA will bring iconic looks from Rihanna, Marilyn Monroe, Tina Turner, Cher, Elton John and more.  

Rounding out 2025 is Sharks, an immersive blockbuster exhibition created by the Australian Museum, Sydney. In Sharks, visitors will explore the diversity of these ancient predators, see life-size shark models and interactive specimens, and discover how First Nations and Pasifika Peoples’ knowledge of sharks can help us protect them. 

Auckland Museum Membership, with three options to explore, provides unlimited free entry to all paid exhibitions, as well as discounted event tickets and exclusive Member-only events. Find out more at: aucklandmuseum.com/membership

Further details and public programmes and events to be announced; sign up to our What’s On email for updates. 

Auckland Museum exhibition programme for 2024/2025: 

RELICS: A NEW WORLD RISES 
WED 29 MAY – SUN 13 OCT 2024 
Adult $21, Child (5–15) $11, Family (2 adults, 2 children) $54 
Unlimited free entry with Museum Membership

RELICS: A New World Rises is an immersive new exhibition by Australian LEGO® Masters Jackson Harvey and Alex Towler that explores an imagined future where LEGO® minifigure civilisations have evolved, and now thrive, in discarded vintage treasures.  

Set in a time long after humanity’s reign, RELICS: A New World Rises tells the story of a world where LEGO® minifigures have risen from the debris of our civilisation to build their own intricate worlds in forgotten artefacts, each one inspired by the object they now call home. 

RELICS: A New World Rises invites audiences young and old alike on a journey of discovery, where stories of humanity are built through objects of play and nostalgia. Combining forgotten human objects with intricate LEGO® creations, RELICS prompts an examination of our world through storytelling and play.  

BLOODSUCKERS: LEGENDS TO LEECHES 
DEC 2024 – APR 2025 
Adult $21, Child (5–15) $11, Family (2 adults, 2 children) $54 
Unlimited free entry with Museum Membership

See bloodsuckers in a whole new light in Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches. Featuring immersive experiences, larger-than-life installations, and interactive elements, this exhibition will answer your biting questions about blood-feeding creatures, whether they’re from the natural or supernatural realm. 

From Dracula to mosquitoes and ticks, Bloodsuckers explores the incredible diversity, evolution, and interconnected world of nature’s ‘vampires’, and the myths, legends, and pop culture they have inspired. 

Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches is produced and circulated by ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), Toronto, Canada. 

DIVA 
JUN 2025 – OCT 2025 
Adult $25, Child (5–15) $10, Family (2 adults, 2 children) $60 
Unlimited free entry with Museum Membership

From nineteenth century opera singers and goddesses of stage and film to contemporary global superstars, DIVA will reveal how the diva has been subverted or embraced, across gender, genres, and history. Featuring icons such as Maria Callas, Dusty Springfield, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Cher and Rihanna, DIVA celebrates how performers continue to redefine the term.  

Through iconic looks, posters, song sheets, personal objects, photography and more, DIVA will demonstrate the phenomenal ability of the diva to transform, inspire and embrace. This exhibition will examine the external and internal forces that contribute to defining, shaping, and worshipping a diva. Delving into the origins of the term ‘diva’ – meaning goddess in Italian – the exhibition will explore how the definition of the word has been subverted and embraced over time, and how the label has been reclaimed by performers, their fans and wider society. 

SHARKS 
DEC 2025 – APR 2026 
Unlimited free entry with Museum Membership

Created by the Australian Museum, Sharks invites you to explore the fascinating, and often misunderstood, world of sharks. Come face-to-face with life-sized, scientifically accurate shark models, including one of the most famous and feared species of shark, the Great White Shark. Learn through artifacts and tactile displays; be immersed in a 3D, interactive scan of a shark body; and see the world in a 360-degree view through the eyes of a Hammerhead Shark. 

Sharks have long held a place in folklore, novels, film, and the popular imagination. This exhibition will provide a chance to learn more about these marine animals that have provided fascination for generations.   

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a quarter of the world's sharks are threatened with extinction. Sharks will also share the very latest information on conservation, sharks’ impact on oceans, and efforts to protect sharks.