Nau mai ki Te Puni Tiaki Taonga o Whanganui - Welcome to the Whanganui Regional Museum

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The museum gift shop is a treasure trove of unusual books, delightful gifts and quality souvenirs. Take home a memento of your visit or find a gift for that person who has everything.

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The Joint Council seeks new members for its Civic House governance.
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    The Whanganui Regional Museum is a bicultural waharoa (gateway) to local social and natural histories. It stands proudly in Pukenamu Queen’s Park, the cultural heart of Whanganui. The Museum has a special relationship with mana whenua, those Māori who have historic and territorial rights over this land. It is also warmly supported by the many communities who continue to help develop it.   

    Learn about the people, objects, and stories that make this vibrant region so important through our stunning collection, which includes outstanding Taonga Māori, the Gottfried Lindauer Gallery of paintings of Whanganui Rangatira, a remarkable moa collection, and a noteworthy collection of historical fashion and textiles.  

    Fully acknowledging our past, explaining the present and preparing for the future starts here, at your museum.

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    Current Exhibitions

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    Current Exhibitions

    Whanganui Mūmū – Whanganui By Design

    Highlighting the creativity, innovative spirit, cultural integrity, and strength of the tradition of art and design in the Whanganui region.
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    He Awa Ora – Living River

    A unique exhibition of ancient and new taonga (treasures) that tell the story of Te Awa Tupua, the Whanganui River and its people. The Awa and iwi feature in a narrative supported by taonga Maori, encompassing the past, the present and the future.
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    Fortune

    The creation of Auckland-based artist, Bev Moon, this exhibition is a sumptuous assortment of dim sum dishes, wontons, dumplings, pork buns, spring rolls, and more, all carefully crafted in wool.
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      Other Exhibitions

      He Matanga – Movers and Shakers

      Remarkable scientists, educators and scholars who have lived and worked in Whanganui and influenced the world.
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      Aitanga-a-Pepeke – The Smallest Creatures

      Aitanga-a-pēpeke is the family name for all the tiny crawling, flying and burrowing invertebrates that populate Aotearoa New Zealand.
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      He Huruhuru te Manu Ka Tau! Dressed to Thrill!

      Fashion from the 1890s and the 1990s. A vibrant celebration of two very different decades of fashion from the Whanganui Regional Museum collection.
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      All Exhibitions

      Collection Highlights

      Durie Hill Map
      1802.605.9

      POSTER; Durie Hill Garden Suburb, 1920s.

      This land sale poster by A D Willis shows the area at the brow of Durie Hill with sections for sale. The suburb had been specially designed by Samuel Hurst Seager, at the time when there was great enthusiasm for designing garden suburbs throughout New Zealand.
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