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Hmong women have been handcrafting story cloths since the 1970s, combining centuries-old needlework practices with narrative art. Originating from the traditional paj ntaub (“flower cloth”) designs, story cloths emerged from significant geopolitical conflict, increased globalisation, and economic necessity to create a unique form of visual storytelling and cultural preservation.

Is Tapa a form of paper? Dard Hunter, preeminent American craft artist papermaker and printer of the twentieth century certainly thought so. Continuing the development of a heritage book collection that has existed for over 150 years is one of the privileges of working here at Tāmaki Paenga Hira.

The Auckland War Memorial Museum has recently taken formal possession of a historic scale miniature diorama of Ōhaeawai pā. The model is the companion of that made of the pā at Ruapekapeka held by the Museum, both recorded as having been made or commissioned in 1851 by Colonel Robert Henry Wynard (1802-64). The reunion of the two dioramas provides an opportunity to undertake a comparative material study.

The Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps is often viewed as a blip in the history of New Zealand. The initiative, created in response to Governor George Grey’s call for more troops, was active for about ten years, from 1847-58. In this article we learn more about the experiences of one fencible Doctor John Thomas Watson Bacot.

Online Cenotaph has been commemorating the experiences of Aotearoa New Zealand’s military service for more than 25 years. Online Cenotaph is a collection of data relating to Aotearoa New Zealand’s operational military service including personal, biographical, demographic, social and military information. But it is much more than a collection of datapoints.

In the depths of the wet collection in the entomology department at Tāmaki Paenga Hira, a termite collection was recently rediscovered that had been given to the museum by John Mackgill Kelsey in March 1975. These have recently been catalogued by our IDEA project team.

Frank Geoffrey Fairfield (23 March 1906 – 15 November 1995) was an engineer, author, local historian, and collector. He discovered his first Māori artefact in a swamp near Buckland’s Beach while fishing, and it triggered a lifelong passion for archaeology.

“Those who are acquainted with the working of the Museum are aware that it has arrived at a stage in its history when the growth of its collections has altogether overtaken the existing accommodation ... one conclusion remains:- to erect a new Museum for Auckland, planned on such a scale, and equipped in such a manner, that it may adequately serve for the recreation, instruction and intellectual advancement of the people of Auckland.”

The palaeontology collection at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum is home to approximately 23,000 fossil specimens from Aotearoa and abroad. This includes the bones of ancient sea monsters, ammonites the size of tractor tires, and tiny foraminifera no bigger than a grain of sand.

Lucy Cranwell was Auckland Museum’s curator of Botany from 1929 to 1943. Along with her knowledge of botany, Cranwell was an expert in palynology (the study of fossil pollens) and from June and September 1938 participated in a Hawaiian Bog Survey.

What do you think of when you think of the preservation of animals? Perhaps you imagine taxidermied animals, or the bleached white bones of an animal. Something that is often forgotten are the diaphonised specimens. Here Grace Yee shares more about the diaphonised shore skinks (Oligosoma smithi), at Tāmaki Paenga Hira.