Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
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The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum of New Zealand. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".
The main Te Papa building is on the waterfront in Wellington, on Cable Street. Inside the building are six storeys of exhibitions, cafés and gift shops dedicated to New Zealand's culture and environment. The museum also incorporates outdoor areas with artificial caves, native bushes and wetlands. The 36,000 square metre building had cost NZ$300 million by its opening in 1998. A second building on Tory Street is a scientific research facility and storage area, and is not open to the public.
Te Papa was opened on February 14, 1998 by Sir Peter Blake, Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, and two children. The museum had one million visitors in the first five months of operation, and between 1 and 1.3 million visits have been made in each subsequent year.
The museum's principles incorporate the concepts of unified collections; the narratives of culture and place; the idea of forum; the bicultural partnership between Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti; and an emphasis on diversity and multidisciplinary collaboration. In 2004, more space was devoted to exhibiting works from the New Zealand art collection in a long-term exhibition called Toi Te Papa: Art of the Nation.
[edit] Controversy
The museum has sometimes been the centre of controversy. The siting of the nation's most important collection of historical artefacts at the water's edge on reclaimed land next to one of the world's most active earthquake fault lines has resulted in concern by some people. There has been criticism of the 'sideshow' nature of some exhibits (primarily the Time Warp section). There has also been criticism that some exhibits were not given due reverence. For example, a major work by Colin McCahon was at one stage juxtaposed with a 1950s refrigerator in a New Zealand culture exhibition.
In December 2005, Te Papa Tongarewa announced a postponement to the long term Toi Te Papa: Art of The Nation, that was to coincide with the Wellington Arts Festival. The museum instead repeated a Lord of the Rings exhibition while not updating their website to reflect the change. This caused outrage amongst many in the New Zealand art community.
In October 2006, the New Zealand Defence Industry Association held their annual conference at Te Papa for the fourth consecutive year. Protesters blockaded the front entrance of the museum, preventing access to visitors. In a similar protest the previous year twenty people were arrested.
[edit] Trivia
- The site was previously occupied by a modern five-storey hotel. This was jacked off its foundations onto numerous rail bogies and transported 200 metres down and across the road to a new site, where it is now the Museum Hotel de Wheels.
- The museum's logo, a thumbprint, caused considerable controversy when it was publicised that its development had cost $300,000—which was actually the cost of the entire branding effort.
- Earthquake strengthening of the Cable Street building was achieved through the revolutionary technology of base isolation—essentially seating the entire building on rubber supports that slow down the effect of an earthquake.
- Filmmakers Gaylene Preston and Anna Cottrell documented the development of Te Papa in their film Getting to Our Place.
- The buildings 1000's of lights are under state of the art computer control, adapt with the changing environment and can be controlled from one central location.
