Nelson Provincial Museum Pupuri Taonga o Te Taiao is seeking to raise $1.2 million to relocate and protect one of New Zealand’s most significant regional collections. 

With construction underway on a new Archives, Research & Collections (ARC) facility in Richmond, we now need support to safely move the museum’s collections, install specialised storage systems and complete the fit-out of the facility. This work is essential to safeguard the heritage of Te Tauihu for generations to come.

Nelson Provincial Museum Pupuri Taonga o Te Taiao is the kaitiaki (guardian) of the social and natural history of the Nelson and Tasman regions. As Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest museum, our story began in 1841 with the founding of the Nelson Literary and Scientific Institution. For more than 180 years we have preserved the taonga, knowledge and stories that shape our region and connect our communities.

Today the museum cares for one of the country’s most significant regional collections, including more than 300,000 objects, 1.2 million photographs, and 150,000 unique archival documents. Among these taonga are remarkable pieces of national and international significance, including over 200 moa bone fragments and a complete moariki (little bush moa) skeleton, a portrait of Atama Paparangi (Te Rarawa) by Charles Frederick Goldie and the UNESCO-inscribed Tyree Studio photographic collection, which contains more than 200,000 glass plate negatives documenting life in early Nelson. Together, these taonga - valued at over $20 million - tell the story of Nelson Tasman, its people, environment and history.

These collections are the foundation of everything we do. They inspire exhibitions, support school learning, enable research and help families and communities reconnect with their past.

The new ARC facility will provide safe, climate-controlled storage and improved access for researchers, educators and the community, ensuring these taonga are preserved and accessible well into the future. Your support will ensure these irreplaceable taonga are preserved, cared for and shared for generations to come. 

Learn more about the ARC project here: About ARC — Nelson Provincial Museum