Find something unique for somebody special
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.
Museum treasures draw visitors from far and wide
Impressive displays include collections of international significance.
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Major exterior refresh planned for Whanganui Regional Museum
The museum will remain open and fully operational throughout the repainting project.
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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
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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Pūeru Ora – Past, Present, Pose
Explore the ever-changing world of fashion across three distinct eras, illustrating how style has evolved through time in Whanganui and beyond.
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Other Exhibitions
Ngā Ika – Fish in the River
Fish sustained people and kept the mighty awa clean for hundreds of years. The Whanganui River was famous for its pā tuna (eel weirs) and utu piharau (lamprey weirs).
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Te Ora te Whenua – Living off the Land
The fertile, productive Whanganui lands have fed and clothed people for centuries. See how men and women worked the earth to provide for their families.
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He Tau Hou, He Tauhou – Settling In
As waves of new migrants from Europe arrived to settle in Whanganui, already populated with a sophisticated and diligent Maori society, misunderstanding, misinterpretation and confrontation were inevitable.
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All Exhibitions
Collection Highlights
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.
1962.178.4
PORTABLE DESK
This portable desk or writing box made circa 1900 has an outer surface decorated with porcupine quills and dots of ivory. It has a hinged lid and a fold-down front with the interior divided into sections for storing writing equipment and a writing surface.
2002.34.6
PHOTOGRAPH; Taupo Quay in flood.
This photograph was taken on Taupo Quay near the Old Tram Shed, after the flood of the Whanganui River in 1940. Four people can be seen rowing a boat down the flooded street. The Durie Hill Tower is visible in the background.