Te Papa Tongarewa
Wellington · New Zealand · Founded 1998
New Zealand's national museum — free to enter, on the Wellington waterfront, with world-class collections of Māori taonga (treasures), natural history, and Pacific culture.
About Te Papa Tongarewa
Te Papa Tongarewa — 'the place of treasures of this land' in Māori — opened in 1998 on the Wellington waterfront as New Zealand's national museum. The building, designed by architects Jasmax, spans six floors along the Wellington harbour foreshore and is one of the most visited destinations in New Zealand, drawing over 1.5 million visitors annually.
The museum's collections cover Māori culture and taonga (treasures), Pacific Island cultures, natural history (geology, flora, fauna), and New Zealand art and social history. The Māori collection is among the most significant in the world — including an ancestral meeting house (marae) and exceptional examples of carved wharenui (meeting houses), waka (canoes), and rare taonga passed down through generations. Natural history highlights include giant squid specimens and earthquake simulations. Admission is entirely free.
Collections & Highlights
Frequently Asked Questions
A small ask before you go
You've just explored one of humanity's greatest collections of beauty. Art has the power to move us, inspire us, and change how we see the world. But millions of people will never see beauty like this — not because the art isn't there, but because they can't see at all.
Preventable blindness, caused by conditions like cataracts and trachoma, affects people of all ages across the world's poorest communities. A small gift — for the cost of a museum ticket — can provide a simple surgery to restore someone's sight and transform their life.