Whanganui Regional Museum

18/06/2026

🎥The team from Taiuru News were in the Museum to capture the arrival of Whakaura, welcomed into the Museum this morning with a special pōwhiri.
🎤Reporter Te Kakenga Kawiti-Bishara and Cameraman Sacha Keating caught up with Tereora Crane, National Library of New Zealand Senior Education Specialist.
👀Keep an eye on Taiuru News for the upcoming story, and visit the Museum website to book your guided learning experience with Whakaura!
wrm.org.nz

17/06/2026

✨Step into the world of Māori and Pacific wayfinding, teamwork, leadership, and ocean voyaging.✨

Whakaura is a replica waka hourua from the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa.

Book a two-hour guided learning experience with this unique educational resource, in a facilitator-led group session. Assemble Whakaura while exploring the knowledge, skills and values that enabled Māori and Pacific peoples to undertake intentional long-distance ocean voyages of exploration and settlement.
Explore concepts such as rangatiratanga (leadership), kotahitanga (unity), mahi tahi (working together with our unique skills and strengths) and haerenga (journeying through our lives). Practice navigation techniques developed and used by Pacific wayfinders in the past and today.

Bookings are essential. Sessions are limited to 20 individuals. Participation is by koha.
Visit wrm.org.nz for sessions times: https://wrm.org.nz/events/whakaura-replica-waka-hourua/

15/06/2026

⛵ Something special is arriving at Whanganui Regional Museum.
This week we welcome Whakaura, a replica waka hourua that invites you to step into the world of Māori and Pacific wayfinding, teamwork, leadership, and ocean voyaging.
Want to be among the first to experience it?
✨ Guided public sessions (koha)
✨ Hands-on learning experience
✨ Limited spaces available
Bookings are open now, so don't miss your chance to get involved before sessions fill up.
🎟 Reserve your place: wrm.org.nz/events

11/06/2026

✨We’re delighted to announce that Natasha Priddle has joined the Senior Leadership Team to lead our education programming in the role of Pou Mātauranga/Team Leader Education.
Natasha is Whanganui born and overjoyed to be returning to her hometown after more than twenty years away.
Natasha has a background in biodiversity research, a Master of Fine Arts, and a postgraduate diploma in secondary education. She specialises in STEAM-based pedagogies and with seven years of teaching experience, is looking forward to designing innovative education programmes focused on social history, art and environmentalism.
Most recently, Natasha has been working at Aratoi Museum of Art and History, Wairarapa.
💛Please join us in welcoming Natasha to the Whanganui Regional Museum whānau!

11/06/2026

For more than a century, Te Mata o Hoturoa has stood at the heart of the Museum.
Join Eruera Rerekura, Kaihāpai Taonga Māori/Curator Taonga Māori, as he explores the remarkable journey of Te Mata o Hoturoa — the largest surviving waka in the Whanganui region.
📅 Friday 19 June
🕧 12.15pm
📍 Whanganui Regional Museum
🎫 Free - all welcome
💛 Koha always appreciated

10/06/2026

Next week's Object of the Month talk features the majestic waka taua, Te Mata o Hoturoa PLUS the National Library's replica waka hourua (voyaging canoe) arrives at the Museum soon!

The talk coincides with the arrival of Whakaura, a 4m replica waka hourua.

07/06/2026

Wonderful to see the story of Te Whaanau Rongoa Puoro Māori o te Ranga Tupua in Saturday's edition of Whanganui Chronicle:

The new collection is named Te Whaanau Rongoa Puoro Māori o te Ranga Tupua.

03/06/2026

👖 Speak of the denim... tomorrow's Outfit of the Month talk explores the remarkable story behind one of fashion's most enduring fabrics, from workwear to wow-wear.
From miners and mechanics to movie stars, punks, and fashion icons, denim has travelled a long way — and tomorrow we'll be exploring that journey through a fabulous late-1970s Lee Cooper jumpsuit from the Museum collection.
Join Kaihāpai Taonga / Curator, Fashion and Textiles Stephanie Wood for our June fashion talk and discover the stories stitched into one of the world's most enduring fabrics.
🗓 Friday 5th June
🕧 12.15pm
📍 Whanganui Regional Museum
🎫Free admission | Koha is always appreciated
Can't make the talk? The jumpsuit will remain on display throughout June.

02/06/2026

✨We are delighted to have welcomed a remarkable new collection of taonga pūoro Māori into the Museum.✨
🎵Created by Grammy Award-winning taonga pūoro producer and composer Jerome Kavanagh Poutama and his partner Ruihaa Turner, the collection — Te Whaanau Rongoa Puoro Māori o te Ranga Tupua — reflects the ceremonial, healing and ancestral significance of taonga pūoro Māori.
Both Puoro Jerome and Ruiha Turner are highly respected taonga pūoro practitioners and performing artists.
It was a privilege to hear Jerome and Ruiha share the stories, whakaaro and kaupapa behind these extraordinary taonga as they were formally presented to the Museum collection.
The taonga pūoro was commissioned with support from the Blumhardt Foundation. The aim of the Blumhardt fund is to enhance New Zealander’s access to the work of contemporary makers, and to support the practice of those makers through public art galleries and museums.
📸KHughes/WRM

27/05/2026

👖From miners and mechanics to punks, pop stars, and fashion icons — denim has done it all.
Discover how denim evolved from hard-wearing workwear into one of the world’s most enduring fashion statements. Take a closer look at the style, the social history and the environmental impact of denim production, all stitched into this well preserved late-1970s Lee Cooper denim jumpsuit.
Join Kaihāpai Taonga / Curator, Fashion and Textiles, Stephanie Wood, for the next Outfit of the Month talk at Whanganui Regional Museum.
Everyone is welcome. No need to book, just come along and enjoy:
⌚12.15pm
📅 Friday 5th June
📍 Whanganui Regional Museum
🎫 Admission is free
💛 Koha for the Museum is always appreciated
The jumpsuit will remain on display throughout June.