Published by Te Papa Press
Inside the iconic New Zealand museum that has benchmarked international best practice
Publication date: February 2018
Extent: 256 pages
Format: Flexibind, 148 x 210mm
ISBN: 978-0-9941362-6-8
Published to mark 20 years since the landmark opening of Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand in 1998, this illustrated book by well-known museum studies academic Conal McCarthy examines the vision behind the museum, how it has evolved in the last two decades, and the particular way Te Papa goes about the business of being a national museum in a nation with two Treaty partners.
McCarthy provides a warm and at times critical appraisal of its origins, development, innovations and reception, including some of its key museological features which have drawn international attention, highlights of exhibitions, collections and programmes over its first twenty years, and the issues that have sparked national and local debate.
About the author
Conal McCarthy is the programme director in the School of Art History, Classics and Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. He has degrees in English, Art History, Museum Studies and te reo Māori. He has strong links with museums, art galleries and heritage organisations around New Zealand, and has worked in a variety of professional roles including education and public programmes, interpretation, governance, collections and curatorial work. His academic research interests include museum history, theory and practice, exhibition history, Māori visual culture and contemporary heritage issues. Conal has published widely on the historical and contemporary Māori engagement with museums, including Exhibiting Māori: A history of colonial cultures of display (2007), Museums and Māori: Heritage professionals, indigenous collections, current practice (2011) and Museum practice: The contemporary museum at work (2015) in the series International Handbooks of Museum Studies.