Nelson Provincial Museum Pupuri Taonga o Te Tai Ao

11/10/2026

It's survey time again!

Been to the Museum lately? We'd love to hear what you think!

Whether you've explored our latest exhibitions or simply popped in for a visit, your feedback helps us make the Museum experience even better.

Complete our quick Museum Visitor Survey and go in the draw to win a $50 Museum Shop gift voucher!

Entries close Monday 16 November 2026.

Have your say here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7LH9PPQ

Thanks for helping us make your Museum even better!

08/10/2026

Wow, check out this incredible line-up!

If you’re heading along to the Multicultural Pop-Up Market this Saturday, pop into the Museum first. We’re open until 4.30pm - come and check out Unravelling the Saree: Beyond the Fold and Our Vision: Rangatahi, Imagining the Future, Shaping Tomorrow before heading up to Top of Trafalgar.

Then it’s music, performances, food and good community vibes from 4pm. Free entry!

🎶✨ What an amazing performance line-up we have for our Pop-Up Market! 🌏💃

Get ready for an evening filled with incredible performances, music, culture, delicious food and vibrant community vibes! 🎤🎉

Come along, support our talented performers and enjoy a wonderful evening with friends and family! ❤️

📅 This Saturday, 10 October
📍 Top of Trafalgar, Nelson
⏰ 4 PM – 8 PM
🎟️ FREE ENTRY!

Everyone is welcome! We can't wait to see you there! 🌸✨

07/10/2026

WIN 2 TICKETS TO THE NELSON HISTORIC HOMES TOUR!

Fancy spending a day stepping inside some of Nelson’s most beautiful historic homes?

We’re giving one lucky person TWO free tickets to the Nelson Historic Homes Tour on Sunday 8 November.

To enter:
• Like this post
• Click Interested or Going on our Facebook event
• Tag the person you’d love to bring along in the comments

Already planning to come? Don’t leave it too late. Tickets are selling fast and there are only a few left.

The tour gives you the chance to explore 15 heritage homes, dating from the 1850s through to the early 20th century, each with its own stories, character and architectural details to discover.

Along the way, there’ll also be heritage displays, activities and special touches, plus a chance to stop and enjoy a Devonshire tea at The Granary, Founders Park.

Sunday 8 November | 10am–4pm
Tickets: $65 per person

It’s a self-guided day, with your tour booklet and map provided in advance so you can plan your own route and explore at your own pace.

Book your tickets:
historic-homes-tour.raiselysite.com

Every ticket purchased helps support the fit-out and development of our new Archives, Research and Collections (ARC) facility, helping us care for Nelson Tasman’s heritage for generations to come.

Please note: This event is not suitable for children under 10 years of age

06/10/2026

NELSON CLAY WEEK | DEAR DIANA

A closer look at the making of Dear Diana by Sandy Connon, now on display in our Museum window as part of Nelson Clay Week.

Using slip-cast porcelain, Sandy recreates the form of the cult-classic Diana camera, a famously imperfect 1960s toy camera known for its soft focus, light leaks, vignetting and unpredictable results.

Those imperfections became part of the camera’s appeal, especially for artists, and they sit at the heart of this work too.

Through repetition and process, Dear Diana explores memory, imperfection and obsolescence.

On now until 9 October
📍 Nelson Provincial Museum, Whakatū
🎟️ Free

Individual works are available for purchase in the Museum Shop.

06/10/2026

[ON NOW] Our Vision: Rangatahi, Imagining the Future, Shaping Tomorrow

This exhibition invites the community to see the future through the eyes of young people.

Featuring work by youth from across the region, Our Vision: Rangatahi, Imagining the Future, Shaping Tomorrow provides a forum for rangatahi to share their hopes, concerns, ideas and visions for the world they want to help create.

Presented with the Nelson Youth Council , the exhibition celebrates rangatahi creativity and leadership, and the importance of young voices in shaping what comes next.

📅 On now until 1 November
📍 Nelson Provincial Museum
🎟️ Free for Nelson Tasman residents

📷 Shernade Photography

06/10/2026

NELSON CLAY WEEK | WHITI KAUPEKA

On now as part of Nelson Clay Week , Whiti-kaupeka brings together uku artist Stevei Houkāmau and weaver Hamuera Manihera in our Museum window.

Whiti-kaupeka is the traditional Māori name for Spica, the brightest star in Virgo. In tātai aroraki, its rising before dawn signals the arrival of Whiringa-ā-nuku, bringing warmer days and the beginning of spring.

As winter snow melts from ngā pae maunga, tīkumu and other alpine plants awaken for another season of growth and harvest. The intricate patterns in Stevei’s uku reflect these seasonal changes, the flowering of tīkumu, and the birds and insects that come and go throughout the year. Notches on the uku reels can be seen as markers of past tīkumu harvests and the passing seasons.

The work brings together tīkumu, muka, natural dyes, uku and feathers.

On now until 9 October
📍 Nelson Provincial Museum, Whakatū
🎟️ Free

01/10/2026

Looking for something fun, creative and inspiring these school holidays?

Make a day of it at Nelson Provincial Museum with activities for tamariki and whānau throughout the Museum.

Explore Our Vision: Rangatahi, Imagining the Future, Shaping Tomorrow and Unravelling the Saree: Beyond the Fold, pick up a Saree Adventure activity booklet, and get hands-on with blocks, books and activities in our Education Space.

You can also enter the draw to win great prizes by drawing your own vision for the future.

Come curious, leave inspired.

Plan your visit: www.nelsonmuseum.co.nz

01/10/2026

As part of Nelson Clay Week, our team has been installing Dear Diana by artist Sandy Connon in our Museum window display.

The work reimagines the cult-classic Diana toy camera, known for its soft focus, light leaks and unpredictable results, the very imperfections that helped make it a favourite with artists.

Using porcelain slip, Sandy has cast the camera repeatedly to create an installation exploring memory, imperfection and obsolescence.

Keep an eye on the window as it comes together, and come back to see the finished work during Clay Week.

📍 Nelson Provincial Museum
📅 3–9 October
🎟️ Free

More details: https://clayweek.ssboxoffice.com/events/dear-diana/

30/09/2026

WOMEN BEYOND THE FOLD | SHIREEN SHAH

In Unravelling the Saree: Beyond the Fold, women from our community share stories of family, identity, culture, work and belonging.

One of those women is Shireen Shah.

Raised in south London by a North Indian father and a Celtic European mother, Shireen grew up moving between different cultures and influences. At just 12 years old, she wore a red silk saree for her first paid job, modelling for an art class. That same saree is now on display in the exhibition.

Years later, the saree would continue to play a part in both her personal and professional life.

Shireen went on to work across theatre, television and film, with roles in Coronation Street, Shameless, EastEnders, The Bill, Casualty and many more.
In the clip shared here, from Coronation Street on 10 April 1995, Shireen appears as Dr Jaiswal.

For Shireen, costume and clothing have always carried meaning. The saree became both a professional costume and a personal expression of identity, reflecting the choices she has navigated throughout her life about culture, belonging and simply being herself.

Today, Shireen is part of the Nelson community, and two of her sarees are featured in Unravelling the Saree: Beyond the Fold.

Come and discover more of her story in the exhibition, on now at Nelson Provincial Museum until 15 November.

30/09/2026

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Electricity came to Nelson in October of 1923. F N Jones captured this stunning night scene in 1925.

📷: Trafalgar Street Night Scene 1925. Nelson Provincial Museum, F N Jones Collection: 309925