Te Papa: Reinventing New Zealand's National Museum 1998-2018

Description

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.

Conal McCarthy is the programme director in the School of Art History, Classics and Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington.

"McCarthy's engaging narrative together with the attractive pictures that punctuate the pages make this a book for the general reader. At the same time, thanks to its grounding in concise research and thorough documentation of sources, this volume is much more than a 'personal perspective' as claimed so modestly by the author. McCarthy delivers nothing less than a brilliant study of how New Zealand's specific political and societal situation informed the re-imagined concept of Te Papa, and of how the museum evolved and came to inspire so many others around the world. This book is unreservedly recommended for the interested layperson and academic reader alike." Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies, Volume 9 Number 1 2021.