Institutions

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand’s national museum in Wellington.

Brazil & Chile & Mexico & Aotearoa New Zealand

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The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is a place where New Zealanders can present, explore and preserve the heritage of their cultures and natural environment. It is also an iconic place for international visitors. Through research, programmes, events, partnerships and outreach, it leads and facilitates national conversations about New Zealand’s identity and environment, and about the realities and challenges of life in New Zealand.

The museum has an exhibition-exchange partnership with Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). In 2012, INAH hosted the New Zealand exhibition E Tū Ake: Māori Standing Strong at Museo Nacional de las Culturas del Mundo. And in 2013, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa hosted one of INAH’s international exhibitions Aztecs: Conquest and glory, which included over 200 treasured artefacts from Mexican museums.

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa also took part in The South Project, which was a series of forums, exhibitions and residencies for Southern Hemisphere artists who focus on visual culture. In 2005, the museum hosted The South Project’s forum in Wellington. Based on the theme, “Between Earth and Sky”, artists created work inspired by indigenous, environmental and social themes.

The museum has also provided a venue for presenting Tutakitaki, which is an album that fuses traditional and contemporary Brazilian and Māori music, and Amazon – Raised Up Sky, which is an augmented reality artwork and documentary about the Amazon rainforest.

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is an autonomous Crown entity; the majority of its funding comes from the New Zealand Government and other sources. It has been led by Chief Executive Officer Courtney Johnston since 2019.