Ours: Treasures from Te Papa

RNZ Originals

Unveiling taonga from high art to pop culture, from the natural world to the frontline of politics, with Kiwis who hold them dear and the Te Papa expert who can explain what it's all about.

  1. EPISODE 1

    Dame Anne Salmond and the silver fern

    The first object comes from the moment of 'first contact'. Historian Dame Anne Salmond talks about the silver ferns collected by the Endeavour and how New Zealand was born in science. These are the originals. The ferns that spawned a million flags, t-shirts, logos, earrings and rugby jerseys. The ferns that first connected Aotearoa with the wider world. In this case that 'wider world' was the crew of Captain Cook's ship Endeavour; in particular botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. For it was those two men - accompanied by their servants - who plucked these two ferns from obscurity in 1769 and added them to the collection of wild and wonderful natural tit-bits they were gathering from around the country. They had sailed off the map and into the unknown and these two silver ferns were part of their haul of mysterious plants, new and exciting to the eyes of all except the tangata whenua. "It was this breath-taking moment," says historian Dame Anne Salmond, "when they had all this new, amazing wealth of new forms of life that needed to be collected and classified and if possible preserved and then taken back to England so they could be studied." “I’d characterize it like kids in a lolly store type thing," adds Te Papa botany curator Leon Perrie. "As botanists, what you’re doing is you dream of finding new species. And here they come into a country where no European has landed before and they are surrounded by all these plants that are new.” The ferns are now in Te Papa's care and are the first item chosen for Ours, the podcast that explores 20 objects that help explain who we are as New Zealanders. The silver fern takes us back to 'first contact' days, but is also as current as the 2015 flag referendum and the next All Blacks test. The silver fern has become New Zealand's de facto national symbol, and while it's now most associated with sport and environmental causes, Salmond says it should also remind us of our scientific roots. The Endeavour, remember, was sponsored by the Royal Society of London as well as the Crown. "So I think our country is, as far as I know, the only nation whose shared history began with a scientific expedition.” When Cook and Co found the coastline around what is now Gisborne, they thought they had found the terra australis incognita. The Great Southern Land. It was like landing on the moon. The plants they found were things of wonder, and so are an apt way to start the series. Over the next five months we'll be telling the stories behind 19 other taonga from Te Papa, in celebration of our national museum's 20th birthday. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    6 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    Jacinda Ardern and Ernest Shackleton's sled

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has a favourite item at Te Papa and in episode two, we discover that while it speaks to her of endurance, it's probably not what you might expected. Not many politicians would choose as a hero a man as famous for finding trouble as he was for getting out of it. Yet when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gets up close and personal with one of the hand-made sleds from Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1907 Antarctic expedition she can hardly contain the excited child inside. "Incredible... Extraordinary," she gushes. It turns out Ardern has a little known obsession with the Irish-born explorer. Watch a video from the episode here Ardern confesses to having considered getting a tattoo of Shackleton. But where would she have put it? "That became the problem," she laughs. Shackleton may not be an easy hero and was a forgotten one for much of the 20th century. But he wasn't any old chancer; indeed, he's now regarded as a role model in team-building. He might have failed in his attempt to be the first to cross Antarctica in 1914, but the heroic leadership of his stranded crew over ice and sea, without a single loss of life, has become a story for the ages. And perhaps not bad inspiration for a leader of the modern Labour Party. For episode two of Ours, as we discover 20 objects in Te Papa's collection that help tell the story of our country, Ardern went behind the scenes at Te Papa to see one of the bamboo, ash and hickory sleds Shackleton's crew hauled across the frozen continent on the earlier 1907 Nimrod expedition. It may be a story that takes place offshore, but the Nimrod set sail from Lyttleton and in 1914, Shackleton's ship the Endurance was captained by Cantabrian Frank Worsley. New Zealand's connection and commitment to Antarctica runs deep, including Sir Edmund Hillary's 1957-8 journey to the South Pole (the first by motor vehicle) and the loss of 257 lives in the Mt Erebus air crash in 1979. Ardern's passion for Shackleton stems from her father and the book, Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. She lists it as her favourite read. "It was Alfred Lansing’s version of the story that was published in the 1950s where he’d managed to get those eyewitness accounts - it was just such an extraordinary tale and I couldn’t imagine the human spirit let alone body that could have endured that and yet there it was," she says… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    7 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Julian Wilcox and Jonah Lomu's PlayStation video game

    Jonah Lomu steamrolled Mike Catt and, as former TV host Julian Wilcox recalls, changed the game of rugby forever. But this treasure about much more than sport. Rugby is a game of colonies, transported from the playing fields of England's private schools around the British Empire. But in 1995 there was a moment of brilliance that made rugby a world sport and changed the game forever; and it was sparked by a Tongan 20 year-old. It was the semi-final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks vs England. The All Blacks had been dominating the tournament but this game went down in history due to what commentator Keith Quinn called "the most brilliant quartet of tries you'd ever wish to see". They were scored by Jonah Lomu. They got New Zealand into the final. But they did much more. "This was more than just a game," says former TV host and die-hard Hurricanes fan Julian Wilcox. " Perhaps the most memorable moment was when Lomu simply ran over the top of England fullback Mike Catt, in his famous bulldozer run. But his performance that day was as memorable for its impact off the field as it was for securing the comfortable 45-29 victory. "We now know that as a result of what Jonah did, the world became interested in rugby. Jonah becomes this global brand. Jonah becomes the ambassador of Sport New Zealand. And rugby itself across the world. Jonah’s got a Jonah burger at McDonald's. Jonah is professional sport in New Zealand. Jonah is the reason why the world becomes interested – not just in rugby – the world becomes interested in the All Blacks," says Wilcox. So this week's object, chosen in part to recognise the importance of Pacific culture in our national story, is not a tapa cloth or one of the other 15,000 typically traditional items in Te Papa's collection. It's the 1997 PlayStation video game 'Jonah Lomu Rugby'. "When these games first came out it was interesting that the rugby bosses chose a Pacific Islander and a Tongan to represent the game," says Sean Mallon, Senior Curator Pacific Culture at Te Papa. "This was part of the marketing of Jonah Lomu within the marketing of the international game. So you have this Tongan man from New Zealand becoming the face of international professional rugby. And that’s part of a bigger story about how Pacific people became the face and the most marketable commodity in the professionalization of rugby." "For a long time and even today New Zealanders have had an ambivalent relationship with Pacific peoples, wanting them in some instances and not wanting them in others..… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    8 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    Jeremy Wells and a Kākāpō ejaculation helmet

    Before humans, New Zealand was a land of birds. Our recent efforts to save them have sparked some heroic stories... but also some, er, quirky ones. Such as the kakapo ejaculation helmet. It's the story of a bird alone. A good keen bird, you might say, just not keen enough on the right things. Sirocco the kākāpō became a star in 2009 when he tried to mate with zoologist Mark Carwardine, who was filming a BBC documentary with British actor Stephen Fry. Sadly, this has been typical of Sirocco's tastes and he hasn't been terribly successful mating with his own kind. As the folk at the Kākāpō Recovery Programme have written: "The call of the wild wasn’t so loud for Sirocco. It soon became apparent that, as a result of the intensive hand-raising and lack of kākāpō company, he had been imprinted on humans." So in a great Kiwi tale of thinking outside the box, rangers tried wearing a "kākāpō ejaculation helmet". If it was a human head that turned him on, well... Te Papa's Vertebrates Curator Colin Miskelly takes up the story: "The helmet was part of trying to make use of these over-sexed males and seeing if they could get them to leave their semen on the helmet". Well, it was worth a crack, Sirocco. For Seven Sharp host and bird fancier Jeremy Wells, a dimpled latex helmet was certainly worth the effort, because the kākāpō is such " a beautiful bird... beautiful plumage. You've got to say, next level plumage." Humans, he says, were a huge blow to their species. Once, they were a common sight in New Zealand - apparently in the old days you used to shake trees and out they fell - but they became a staple of the Māori diet and then suffered further when Europeans arrived with stoats and weasels. As New Zealand children are routinely taught, kākāpō were nearly extinct, but they are making a comeback, if a rather fragile one. The effort made to save the bird that Fry described as looking like a Victorian gentleman with sideburns has been massive, and the population at the time of writing is 149. Given New Zealand is a land of birds - a country that before humans hardly knew what a mammal looked like - we could hardly tell the story of New Zealand without a nod to our efforts to save our birdlife from our own sins. And the ejaculation helmet is a suitably 'just crazy enough that it might work' sort of idea that seems right at home here. The fact it failed is neither here nor there, it's the willingness to give it a go that speaks volumes… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    6 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    Mike Bush and John Minto's Springbok Tour helmet

    The '81 Springbok Tour woke and divided New Zealand, but this week's object and its champion are a surprising combination that shows just how far we've come. New Zealand has a proud tradition of activism dating back to Hone Heke and Kate Sheppard. But few who have chosen protest as their turangawaewae can claim to have changed New Zealand. John Minto is one who did just that, which is why his helmet is the focus of this episode. Now, his courage is being recognised by, of all people, New Zealand's police chief. The ’81 Tour was a watershed moment in modern New Zealand history for many reasons – the way it forced New Zealanders to confront racism in South Africa and here at home; the divides it exposed between urban and rural New Zealand, generations and even within families; the damage it did to the reputation of the New Zealand police; how it was cynically but effectively used to win an election; and how it challenged what New Zealanders would forgive for the sake of the national religion, rugby. At the heart of that upheaval, challenging New Zealanders to take a long, hard look at themselves, was Minto. As national organiser of Halt All Racist Tours (HART), Minto led the protest movement as it went, in his words, "to the edge of the law". Yet the police saw it differently, with 1500 arrests from among the estimated 150,000 people who took part in more than 200 demonstrations. One of the young officers policing the law's edge was Mike Bush, now the country's police commissioner. He was on duty at the infamous Hamilton game, when the protestors made it onto the field and stopped the match. "There was a lot of anger and aggression between both parties and as I reflect on that and think about how we manage these days, we learnt a lot from 1981 in how we manage any public order event or protest. We have to remember that in these situations we're the professionals." What might surprise some - even upset a few - is Bush's praise for the courage of those protestors. "You just have to admire those central leaders in the protest movement for standing up for what they believe in. "Because they really did change the course of history... They didn’t just put their values on the line, they put their bodies on the line for it as well. And it had a massive impact." The helmet is at the light end of things, made of fibreglass and covered with dings. It was, believe it or not, a scooter helmet. Not much protection from the police batons and a curious choice given other at the protests opted for motorbike helmets. Minto was given the helmet by his girlfriend, after he was hit by a bottle the night of the cancelled Waikato-Springbok game on July 25… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    7 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Theresa Healey and the Play School toys

    In the 1970s New Zealand started to find its own voice through mass media, and that included imported children's television. Ready to knock? Turn the lock. he names are instantly recognisable to a generation or more, because they were the toys that belonged to us all... Humpty, Jemima, Big Ted, Little Ted and of course New Zealand's own Manu. Sometime it's not the significant or serious things that tell us most about ourselves. So in this week's Ours we look at the dolls that really were ours. NZ On Screen: Play School - Presenter Compilation As Te Papa's Modern New Zealand curator Kirstie Ross says "they're part of shared national popular culture and memory". They were on the one and only TV channel, and we entered the world of games, crafts, stories and these toys through the iconic Play School door ("Ready to knock? Turn the lock. Play School!"). If nothing else, we learnt dozens of things to do with old toilet rolls and cotton wool. Play School began in New Zealand in 1972, a knock-off from the BBC, but it came at a time when New Zealand was changing, and the way our hosts talked, acted and played with those dolls reflected those changes. Actor and one-time Play School host Theresa Healey recalls that when she worked on the programme in the 1980s "we were getting away from the British, about being a New Zealand voice. Because in the show, it always used to make me laugh, we'd go through the window - it was always these - you'd go through to the Thames. If we were talking about rivers we'd go to the Thames... And it as like - we've got so many amazing things here, why aren't we using New Zealand stuff?" Humpty, Jemima, and the Teds all derived from the British series that started in 1964. Humpty, Healey especially recalls as "just gorgeous... round and cuddly". But the dolls didn't always cooperate. "They never quite did what you wanted them to do. You'd be putting them in the boat, because you were going boating and one would fall over." But we also got one of the earliest indigenous characters on New Zealand television - the doll Manu. "For Manu," says Ross, "we do have a piupiu and a feather cloak as well, because she's a Maori doll she would wear those for special events. And Manu was what made New Zealand's Play School quite special." Working with those dolls, Healey knew her place. "They were the stars of the show... they were telling the stories and that's what the kids identified with."… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    6 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Sam and the colossal squid

    What has the biggest eyes in the world, blue blood and three hearts? Sam Cousins knows and it's a bit of natural science that connects us to the oceans surrounding us. She came all the way from the Ross Sea, to lie in central Wellington. And she is a she. A female colossal squid that surprised the world. When a 300kg specimen was found in 2003, speculation that some colossal squid could weigh as much as 500kg was met with some skepticism. Then in 2007 a longline trawler chasing toothfish in the Ross Sea came across a 470kg specimen and the proof was hauled from the ocean as the cameras rolled. Colossal squid could really be that colossal. The giant creature has since been housed in Te Papa and is one of the museum's star attractions. It's the only one on display in the world and, perhaps, a sign of New Zealand's significance as the "last, loneliest, loveliest" place before you hit the frozen land of Antarctica. The squid and its popularity speaks to New Zealand's scientific curiosity and connection to the seas that surround us as an island nation. Certainly, nearly-10 year-old Sam Cousins is a fan. And full of facts. "They have three hearts. Their eyeballs are the size of soccer balls," he says. He's been visiting the squid for years, and he's not the only one. Te Papa's Collection Manager of Sciences, Andrew Stewart, says it's been an aquatic attraction for experts. You see, for all Sam's facts, we know very little about them. "It was a unique opportunity for scientists from around the world to come and look at the whole animal, not just extrapolate from the bits and pieces we've had in the past; what sex it is, how mature is it; how big do they actually get; what are the dimensions of the different parts of the body..." It's a rare scientific bonus to come from fishing industry by-catch. "Catching a whole specimen in Antarctica, bringing it back, those excellent relationships we have with the observers and the seafood industry making scientific specimens available, we're learning more and more. Every specimen that comes in gives us more and more information that we didn't know before and we keep finding new things right under our noses." That will mean more facts for Sam - and all who still have a bit of the nearly-10 year-old in them. "They can see in the dark because they have the biggest eyes in the world," Sam says. "And it's funny how their blood is blue." *The colossal squid will go into storage shortly after Easter until Te Papa opens its new nature zone early next year. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    5 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Anthony Byrt and Colin McCahon's 'I am scared'

    I am scared is about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. It's a universal theme, but its depiction by this great New Zealand artist could only have been painted here. He is New Zealand's great 'I am'. No, not God or Yahweh, but Colin McCahon, an artist with a fondness for the words 'I am' and grand religious themes. They feature in many of his works in many different ways, and he undoubtedly is one of New Zealand's artistic greats. Someone whose work could only have been created in Aotearoa. Painted in 1976 and bought in 2008, I am scared is simple, urgent and dark. It shows us McCahon's distinctive use of words from a time when he had said that he only ever needed black and white to do his work. Light and dark. The words 'I am scared' are lower case and hesitant; the rejoinder that speaks of a determination to stand for something in spite of that fear is written in upper case and at least attempts to look stronger. "I'm scared," says art critic Anthony Byrt, "about the things that he is expressing on the surface of those works, which is kind of around environmental questions but also existential ones." Te Papa's Senior Curator of Art, Sarah Farrar, replies: "There were five works that he made as part of the Scared series – through the series of five it kind of shifts from being this kind of very personal expression to being more of a comment on the human condition." Byrt says for him McCahon had started painting landscapes so confidently, but by the Scared series he had found more violence and uncertainty in the New Zealand landscape and he was doing his best to follow that darkness where it led. "I think we owe him a lot for that, for not turning away, for not letting the fear get the better of him in that moment." Sam Neill has described the words on this artwork as a definition of heroism. The feeling of the fear, but the doing it anyway. In that sense, the theme is universal. But McCahon's themes are so often New Zealand's themes: Landscape and race relations. Says Byrt: "The 'I' comes to stand for all of us who are a product of this traumatic collision between two cultures and that’s why I think McCahon’s work is a problem because New Zealand is forever a problem. It’s a very unresolvable thing. "And so New Zealand culture is a thing that we struggle to describe that happens on the surface of that scar, that moment of collision between two cultures that he articulates almost better than anybody else."… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    7 min
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Unveiling taonga from high art to pop culture, from the natural world to the frontline of politics, with Kiwis who hold them dear and the Te Papa expert who can explain what it's all about.

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