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A Fresh Look for a Much-Loved Landmark
Whanganui Regional Museum’s new exterior colour scheme unveiled.
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Help Shape the Future of the Whanganui Regional Museum
The Whanganui Regional Museum Trust is inviting community feedback as part of a major review of its governance and operational arrangements.
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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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Education
Current Exhibitions
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Future Events
Whanganui Summer Programme 2026: Te Raumati ki Whanganui
Thu, 5 Mar, 2026
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For Museum Friends: Hunting the Collectors – Using Genealogy at the Museum
Thu, 12 Mar, 2026
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Costume & Textile Association of New Zealand Symposium 2026
Fri, 8 May, 2026
– Sun, 10 May, 2026
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All Events
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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Utauta Taketake, Utauta Hōu/Tools Through Time
Get a close look at the extraordinary objects that connect us to the deep past, from Lower Palaeolithic tools to Neolithic implements, showcasing the ingenuity and artistry of our ancestors.
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Our Places of Worship
This exhibition is closing soon
Experience an evocative tribute to the region’s spiritual heritage, captured through the eyes of passionate local photographers.
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Other Exhibitions
Cast in Light: Life in a Mining Town
Explore the once-thriving mining community of Waiuta through the evocative images of renowned photographer Joseph Divis.
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Whakapono – We Believe
What is religion? It may be belief in supernatural or spiritual traditions. It may be a set of practices appropriate to that belief.
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Te Pātaka Whakaahua – The Lindauer Gallery
Paintings of Maori tupuna (ancestors) by Gottfried Lindauer.
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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.