probably one of the best museums in the world (Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa)

Member Name: siantone

Product:	Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa Tongarewa
Date:	25/05/09 (7 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: refreshing and honest approach to history

Disadvantages: none

Te Papa Tongarewa is not just the national museum of New Zealand, it is also a heavyweight cultural player worldwide. Many European museums such as the Louvre or the British Museum carry centuries of what is best described as cultural baggage, due to national histories involving unashamed imperial expansion and exploitation. However, there is an intellectual integrity about the historical displays at Te Papa that are refreshingly free from baggage. The visitor walks away with the sense that when different cultures come together, we may have shared histories but often diverse legacies. The respect for indigineous culture is clear, with the display of Maori objects sensitively handled (for e.g. taboos around certain objects are acknowledged) and interpretation labels that tell history from a non-colonial perspective too. Within living memory, museums in NZ would have containted shrines to traditional iconic figures such as Capt James Cook with the subtext that white colonisation of the country was uncontroversial and somehow essential for the 'progression of mankind'. It is heartening to see Te Papa play a strong role in respecting different cultures and providing us all with a (free) forum to explore what modern NZ is today.

I would recommend visitors to go to Te Papa first when visiting Wellington as the historical displays encapsulate the origins of NZ as a multicultural society.

Summary: A highly intelligent and subtle modern museum