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Tūhura Otago Museum Blog

The blog is where we'll post news, updates, information about objects in our collection, #betterworkstories, profiles of staff members and visitors, pictures and videos, and really anything we think you'd find interesting. We hope you enjoy. 

If there's a topic you'd like us to do a post about, or a post that you think needs a sequel, just let us know!

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‘Probably going [to] Auckland for bird studies’ – Lily Daff writes to H D Skinner

1 September was World Letter Writing Day and Moira White, our Curator, Humanities, has been delving through Otago Museum's historical correspondence...

 

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Research visit: Seabirds and plastics

 Dunedin is home to a diverse seabird population, and many of these species are represented in Tūhura Otago Museum’s collections. This makes our collection a useful resource for researchers like Kamya Patel, who is studying why seabirds ingest plastics.

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Science comes alive on the Chathams

From 16 August, 2022, Tūhura Otago Museum’s science engagement team will be spending a week on the Chatham Islands/Rēkohu/Wharekauri for the Chatham Islands Festival of Science, to help bring cutting-edge science and hands-on engagement to some of Aotearoa’s most remote communities.

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Coins Minted by Caligula Honouring Family Members

As part of the University of Otago's Classics Programme, George Morris takes a deep dive into Caligula and the coins he minted to honour his family members.

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Mighty Small, Mighty Bright Exhibition Announced

*Media release – 22/06/2022* *Today’s Science, Tomorrow’s Technology* Lasers, rainbows, and magnetic nanoparticles… they’re just some of the extraordinary science at your fingertips in the Mighty Small Mighty Bright exhibition opening at Tūhura Otago Museum on Saturday 2 July. The exhibition was created in partnership with New Zealand’s leading scientific research institutes, the MacDiarmid Institute and the Dodd-Walls Centre, alongside Otago Museum and MOTAT. “The aim was to demystify the fascinating world of photonics, advanced materials, and nanotechnology”, said Marketing Coordinator, Charlie Buchan, “and it really does that, in a way that is fun and interactive for children and families”. The exhibition has 12 interactive...

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New Gaming Exhibition – Code Breakers: Women in Games

*Media release* *New Gaming Exhibition – Code Breakers: Women in Games * Otago Museum has announced an exhibition for Otago’s gamers, digital natives, and technophiles, Code Breakers: Women in Games, set to open on Saturday 2 July. This free exhibition is made by ACMI and transforms the Museum into an immersive and interactive game zone. Visitors can get hands-on with an array of playable games – from indie through to commercial hits and new releases – all made by New Zealand and Australian women working in different capacities: as directors, programmers, developers, digital artists, writers, producers, and designers. “We are really excited to bring this...

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Never-before-recorded auroral activity observed in Dunedin

* GRL COVER 520 425 Nov0621 newimgs A3 * *Never-before-recorded auroral activity observed in Dunedin could lead to new understanding of Earth’s geomagnetic environment* *Dunedin, 2 June 2022* – Research co-authored by an international team of scientists from Boston University, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and including critical observations from Otago Museum director and citizen scientist Dr Ian Griffin, has been published in the renowned scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters. It is the first-ever direct observation of rare auroral activity (an auroral-like arc transformation) that may cast new light on the complex magnetic interactions in the near-Earth space environment. “Because this kind of transformation...

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Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Exhibition Announced

*Media release * *Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Exhibition Announced* Tūhura Otago Museum is opening a new exhibition of the finalists of the Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award in the Museum’s Tāngata Whenua gallery. “We are really excited about having the artworks here, particularly in this very special space. The works provide colour and light and compliment the dark and moody narrative of the gallery”, said Tūhura Otago Museum Assistant Curator Māori, Lana Arun, who helped to facilitate the exhibition at the Museum. Featuring paintings, whakairo (carving), raranga (weaving), photography, and ceramics, all the works are portraits of the artists’ tūpuna (ancestors). “The works are beautiful,...

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Blumhardt Foundation means more art at Otago Museum

With the support of the Blumhardt Fund, Otago Museum has recently acquired an exciting group of additions to the crafted corner of our collections...

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Special Puaka Matariki event planned

*Media release – 09.05.22* *Special Puaka Matariki event planned* This year, for the first public holiday to celebrate Matariki, Tūhura Otago Museum is working with the local rūnaka and the Dunedin City Council for a special community dawn ceremony that will open the festival. “The dawn reappearance of stars Puaka (Puanga) and Matariki signals the Māori new year, a time of celebration for iwi”, said Curator Māori, Gerard O’Regan. “It is also a time of reflection when we think about those whānau and friends who passed away over the previous year. That will be an important part of our dawn gathering this year...

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About

Our blog aims to keep you informed of the latest happenings at the Otago Museum, through posts about our collections, our people and our work.

Disclaimer

The views expressed here are those of our individual contributors, and are not the views of the Otago Museum.

Copyright

All content of this blog is Copyright Otago Museum, 2017. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the Otago Museum, except for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review, or education, as provided for in the New Zealand Copyright Act 1994.