History and Heritage Tour of the Coromandel

EVENT

8 – 14 September 2026 The Coromandel Peninsula does not just have an abundance of natural beauty but is also rich in Māori history and early European settler heritage. This tour will explore the historic town of Thames with a knowledgeable local guide. We visit the Carnegie Library and Thames School of Mines, as well as the Thames Goldmine Experience and Thames Art Gallery. In Coromandel town we will be going on a guided walking tour and we experience the famous Driving Creek Railway and Pottery. As we wind our way around the peninsula, we visit Whitianga for a Glass

Theft and Forgery at Victoria University's Classics Museum

Victoria University’s Classics Museum examines the complex afterlives of antiquities through two remarkable objects—a Roman portrait head now subject to repatriation after being identified as illicitly excavated, and a richly carved child’s sarcophagus later revealed to be a modern forgery. Associate Professor Diana Burton explores the investigations behind these discoveries

Growing Museum Learning

In this reflective session, Sarah Hopkinson, Head of Learning at Te Papa, explores the vital role museums play within Aotearoa’s wider education ecosystem and the unique ways they nurture creativity, collaboration, and community. Drawing on recent Te Papa Learning initiatives, she highlights embodied, socially connected approaches that enrich and extend

Wellington Writers Walk New Sculpture

The Wellington Writers Walk has grown from its first eleven sculptures in 2002 to a beloved series of 23 typographical artworks celebrating poets, novelists, and playwrights connected to the capital. In this talk, Writers Walk chair Philippa Werry and committee member Tracy Farr trace the Walk’s history and introduce the

Sculpture at 1100 Degrees

Sculptor Jonathan Campbell shares an inside look at the processes, challenges, and craft behind creating bronze sculpture, drawing on stories and techniques from his decades at the furnace.

Peggy Guggenheim- A Life of Collecting

Join arts educator Charlie Hall in this fascinating lecture tracing Peggy Guggenheims path to creating one of the world's most iconic collections of twentieth-century art.

Who's Got Our Paintings? The Story of the Public Catalogue Foundation Project.

One man’s quest to see a favourite painting at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge led to a remarkable project, now known as ‘ArtUK’ (Art UK | About About), which has catalogued over 250,000 thousand oil paintings in UK public ownership since 2003. The project now moves on to sculpture. Cataloguers