Visually fun and educationally exotic (Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa)

Member Name: DannoStanno

Product:	Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa
Date:	21/05/09 (4 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: free, well designed

Disadvantages: Some exhibits need to be paid for

Te Papa is New Zealand's national museum and lies in the middle of the capital, Wellington. The first thing to note is admission is free which instantly gets a big thumbs up and gets the tourists flocking in.

As you approach the famously architected building plastered between Courtney place (the main bar/shopping street) and the ocean, you are welcomed in with an array of interesting sculptures. Also note there is a hidden subterranean exhibit showing you first hand the building's anti-earthquake foundations, which is fascinating in itself.

This brings us to the fact that New Zealand and Wellington in particular is rife with seismic activity, thus there are several rooms dedicated to the country's geological history and it's own rocky foundations. These exhibits are full of interactive activities, fascinating films and such infamous uses of space as a re-enactment of an Earthquake in a house.

Other permanent exhibits offer a history of human population within NZ (only 1000 years of!!!) with much dedicated to Maori history. The interactive film of Wellington's own history is brilliantly made and stirs up all sorts of emotions. As far as animals go, the room with the whales bones in is really intriguing, atmospherically laid out and full of boney delights!

As well as all this, there are several special exhibitions that remain for just a few months at a time, often from overseas. Occasionally these special exhibits need to be paid for but are usually worth it. Whilst I was there there were exhibits on Egyptian history, Chinese history, Poisons, Whales and British colonialism.

Summary: A brilliant example of how museums should be run