Matariki, Māori New Year, signals a time to reflect on what we have learned, contributed, and are grateful for.Read more…
On the front line and on the home front: History postgrads curate new display with Special Collections
History postgraduate students Tanlin Liu and Catriona McCallum are guest curators for the latest Special Collections display.Read more…
Celebrating Pacific culture for 50 years
The Festival of Pacific Arts (FestPAC) will see thousands of people from across the region gather in Hawai’i to showcase their traditional arts, crafts, music, dance, and oral traditions.Read more…
Putting te reo artificial intelligence to the test
The Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound is collaborating with Te Hiku Media to explore opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI) transcription of te reo Māori. Read more…
In memory of Fa’anānā Efeso Collins
Last week New Zealanders were shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden death of Green Party MP Faʻanānā Efeso Collins. Efeso devoted his life to serving his community, firstly as President of the Auckland University Students’ Association (AUSA) and subsequently as a youth worker, broadcaster and head of the University of Auckland’s Pacific student outreach programme.Read more…
Books for every season
At this time of year, many people are scouring bookshops for the perfect present for family and friends. In Special Collections, we scoured the shelves to see what books had been given for Christmases and New Years’ past. Here’s a selection.Read more…
Preserving recorded heritage
Care for items in an archive is more than just ensuring there is a secure room and a shelf to sit on. The environmental conditions must be appropriate; handling should be done with care, and material needs to be findable—all elements to ensure those archives will be safe and assessable into the future. Read more…
Good things come in threes
Special Collections is thrilled to have Colin McCahon’s 1959 painting Landscape through a Victorian window on display in the Reading Room.Read more…
Our subject guides have changed!
We have updated our subject guides to better help you find the information you need.Read more…
University of Auckland 140 years: Shelf life
This imagined day in the life of the library, written for the University’s 140th anniversary this year, is based on sources mainly in Special Collections.Read more…
Remember and reflect: The Declaration of Independence and the National Day of Commemoration for the New Zealand Wars
28 October 2022 marks the anniversary of the signing of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene: the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand in 1835. Te Pūtake o te Riri, He Rā Maumahara, or the National Day of Commemoration for the New Zealand Wars, is commemorated on the same date. Read more…
Drawing lessons from Rewi Thompson
The work of Rewi Thompson (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Raukawa) and his legacy as a teacher and indigenous architect of international renown is explored in the new book ‘Rewi: Āta haere, kia tere’. Read more…
Finding a world of Māori and Pacific sound
The Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound (AMPS) has been around for a long time, gathering and caring for recordings from all around Aotearoa and throughout the span of the Pacific, and providing access to those recordings to communities and researchers. Read more…
Collection connections: In the Lee of a Looted Island
The University of Auckland art collection is a significant part of Cultural Collections, and we are extremely excited to have a painting from the collection recently installed in the Special Collections Reading Room, Ground Floor, General Library.
The painting, ‘In the Lee of a Looted Island’ (1966), is by Don Binney and has recently been returned from having some routine conservation. Read more…
University of Auckland 140 years: In the classroom
To mark the 140th anniversary of the opening of Auckland University College (AUC), Special Collections goes back into the classroom to look at university teaching before PowerPoint, Zoom and Canvas.Read more…
International Archives Week: Archives United
This week is International Archives Week, marking the foundation of the International Council of Archives (ICA), under the auspices of UNESC0, on 9 June 1948. This year the event also celebrates 75 years of the ICA’s work to promote the importance of records and archives and the work of those who care for them.Read more…
University of Auckland 140 years: First four professors
To mark the 140th anniversary of the opening of Auckland University College (AUC), Special Collections has taken a closer look at the appointment and careers of the first four professors.Read more…
University of Auckland 140th Anniversary: Orientation
To coincide with Orientation Week, Special Collections has put together a display celebrating this important and fun part of the university year.Read more…
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the agreement between the Crown and Māori that was signed on 6 February 1840 by 40 rangatira and Captain Hobson at Waitangi.Read more…
Bruce Biggs and the revitalisation of te reo Māori
The Māori language petition for active recognition of te reo Māori was delivered to Parliament in 1972. It had over 30,000 signatures and became the starting point for a significant revitalisation of te reo Māori.
At the time, te reo Māori revitalisation was still in its infancy at the University of Auckland, after receiving a boost during the 1950s, with Bruce Biggs — ethnographer, linguist, and champion of te reo Māori — at the helm. Read more…
The Point of (No) Return: marking 45 years since the occupation of Bastion Point
45 years ago, the Ōrākei Māori Action Committee, led by Joe Hawke, began the occupation of Takaparawhā | Bastion Point reserve to protest the Government’s plan to subdivide the land for private housing developmentRead more…
Electoral remix: adoption of MMP in New Zealand
Tuesday 12 October 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of New Zealand’s first Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) general election.Read more…
ClockTower design: celebrating 100 years
2021 marks 100 years since Roy Lippincott and Edward Billson won the competition to design the University’s first significant purpose-built building, now known as the ClockTower.Read more…
New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre: 20 years online
The New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre went live 20 years ago on 20 July 2001, making it one of the country’s longest-running poetry hubs.Read more…
‘Twins’ successfully installed in new sculpture court
Chiara Corbelletto’s ‘Twins’ (2003) have now found a new home at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FMHS), making way for the new Recreation Centre on the City Campus.Read more…