WELCOME TO 2019!
The sun is shining, the kids aren't back at school just yet, but your Museum staff are already hard at work on some exciting new projects for 2019!
We've already started the year off with some new additions to our Tropical Forest - some CARNIVOROUS additions! Samantha Kingsbury, one of our stellar Science Communicators, hascomplied some information about the remarkable world of carnivorous plants for the Otago Museum Blog. Have a read, then come and see them in person inside Tūhura.
While you're there, why not check out No Rain, No Rainforest or First Flight? In No Rain, No Rainforest you'll learn all about how this special ecosystem functions and the role rain plays. You'll even get to experience a tropical downpour! Both are free with your Tūhura entry.
Click here to check out Samantha's carnivorous plants story on our blog.
Click here to read more about No Rain, No Rainforest.
Click here to read more about First Flight.
FIND
Before gel pens, before rollerball pens, before ballpoints, there were fountain pens and, even earlier, quill pens. Nibs that were dipped into inkwells needed to be kept clean. Penwipers were a standard part of writing desk equipment in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Commercially produced penwipers were on sale in the Stationery Warehouse in Wellington’s Willis Street in 1869, alongside ebony rulers, inkstands, prepared gum, water wells, damping brushes, date denoters and Mordan’s Japan ticket ink.
Click here to read the whole story now on our blog!
SEE
DREAM TO FLY
Have you ever dreamed of flying?
Learn how this immense and challenging dream, for which humankind has striven since the beginning of history, came true.
Discover the mystery of flight in a poetic story about the history of aviation. Travel back in time with Leonardo da Vinci, the Montgolfier brothers, Wright brothers and other inventors who dreamed of flying, and explore what the future of flight might look like.
Don't miss this magical new film, now showing in the Perpetual Guardian Planetarium.
For more info and times, click here.
11.30am and 1.30pm daily | Perpetual Guardian Planetarium | From $7
Also showing:
The Sky Tonight
We Are Aliens! 3D
DO
THE BEST OF THE REST
Gallery Trail
Continue celebrating our 150th birthday with us by sharing your best object in the Otago Museum – but first, make it your quest to find the objects our experts have declared the "best of the rest!"
Complete the trail to claim your reward.
For more info, click here.
Throughout the day, until Sunday 27 January | Info Desk | Free
EXPLORERS' CLUB
School Holiday Programme
The ever-fabulous Explorers' Club kicks off this week! Some sessions are already booked out, so get in quick if you want to reserve a slot.
Some of the sessions featured in the January edition of Explorers' Club include:
Precious Penguins
We’re celebrating International Penguin Awareness Day at the Museum these holidays. Get your skates on and head down for a day on the ice with our waddling little friends.
World of Wearable Wow
Clothing is something we wear every day, but sometimes, clothes are just wow. Get immersed in the world of fashion and strut your stuff with our wearable arts challenge.
For more info, click here.
8.30am–5.30pm daily, until Friday 25 January | Otago Museum | From $30 per session
INSPIRED BY EST
Makerspace
Bed bugs and people have a long and intimate history, and few pests have been more detested... sharks aren't always popular either!
Visit est. 1868 to inspect a bed bug from Dunedin's very own University College and marvel at Ken Thaiday’s enormous beizam (hammerhead shark) dance mask. Then come to the Makerspace tables and create a cute bed bug who just wants a good night's sleep or construct your own glitzy shark headpiece.
For more info, click here.
10am–5pm, Monday 21 January to Friday 25 January | Atrium Level 1 | Free
Field Trip
We're on a quest to capture the perfect shot for the 2019 Otago Wildlife Photography Competition!
Grab a seat on our double-decker bus and discover some of Dunedin’s best photo-snapping locations in the company of guest photography experts.
For more info, click here.
9am–3pm, Sunday 27 January | Bookings essential | $45