- Opens
- 17 August 2025
- Closes
- 7 October 2025
Kura Pounamu
Our Treasured Stone
Kura Pounamu is an exhibition presented by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu featuring more than 200 taonga pounamu.
Hei tiki (pendant in human form). Gift of Leo Buller, 1911. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (ME002100).
It tells the story of this most precious of stones, its significance for Māori, and its enduring value from ancient times until today.
The exhibition includes some very rare cultural taonga, including some 95 hei tiki, 20 mere, and four large pounamu touchstones, the largest of which, “Te Hurika”, weighs in at 170kg. The earliest pounamu pieces in the exhibition may be the toki, tools used for working wood. Some are thought to originate from early settlement times some 700-800 years ago, and replicate East Polynesian adze shapes.
- Exhibition Hours:
- Open Daily: 10am–4pm
- Free Entry
Developed and presented byTe Papa and Ngāi Tahu
