A Pacific Case Study at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa has a large collection of Pacific material, but, despite the museum’s commitment to represent the cultures of all New Zealand’s peoples and its recognition of the importance of intangible heritage, it has only been partially successful in demonstrating. Objects have been de- contextualised and some of their cultural significance has been lost, as has happened with many other Pacific collections in museums worldwide. The exhibition Culture Moves! Dance Costumes of the Pacific was set up to complement the conference Culture Moves! Dance in Oceania for hiva to hip hop held at Te Papa in November 2005. It provided an opportunity for the museum to show its commitment to the idea of intangible heritage. The paper deals with the problems involved in the collection, display and interpretation of dance costumes and describes some of the solutions. It recommends the approach of the Vanuatu Culture Centre’s Fieldworkers to the collection and recording of intangible material as a model which Te Papa tried to follow in the creation of this exhibition and as one that would be appropriate for other projects and other museums.