The magnificent plant world of Aotearoa New Zealand in art and object.
Edited by Carlos Lehnebach, Claire Regnault, Rebecca Rice, Isaac Te Awa, and Rachel Yates
This big, glorious book mines Te Papa’s collections to explore and expand upon the way we think about our botanical world and its cultural imprint. A true treasure, it features over 400 selections by an expert, cross-disciplinary museum curatorial team that range from botanical specimens and art to photography, furniture, jewellery, tīvaevae, applied art, textiles, stamps and more.
Flora’s twelve essays provide a deeper contextual understanding of different topics, including the unique characteristics of New Zealand flora as well as how artists and cultures have used flora as a motif and a subject over time. Elegant, expert and engrossing.
Look inside Flora: Celebrating Our Botanical World here
About the editors
Carlos Lehnebach is Curator Botany at Te Papa. His expertise lies in the native orchids of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Claire Regnault is Senior Curator New Zealand Histories and Cultures at Te Papa. She is the author of several books. Her most recent, Dressed, won the Illustrated Non-Fiction Award at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Rebecca Rice is Curator of New Zealand Historical Art at Te Papa and has a special interest in early botanical art. She is working on a book on the taonga associated with the New Zealand Wars held at Te Papa.
Isaac Te Awa is Curator Mātauranga Māori at Te Papa. He is a practising weaver and is actively collecting for Te Papa’s contemporary taonga Māori collection.
Rachel Yates is a former Curator Pacific Cultures at Te Papa, where she worked closely with Pacific maker communities. She now works for the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
Extent: 452 pages
Format: Hardback