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Canterbury Museum
Working with local communities to tell stories important to Canterbury
Canterbury Museum is a registered Charitable Trust, the governance of which is vested in the Canterbury Museum Trust Board, and set out in the Canterbury Museum Trust Board Act 1993.
Canterbury Museum was first opened to the public on 2 December 1867 and has been located on our current site in Rolleston Avenue since 1 October 1870.
Canterbury Museum - Latest News [Page 1]
Take A Sneak Peek Into The Museum Collection On Special Tours Starting In March
Monday, 2 March 2026, 11:41 am | Canterbury Museum
Canterbury Museum Tumuaki Matua | Director Anthony Wright says visitors often don’t appreciate that a museum is much more than a public attraction in a heritage building. More >>
Museum Seeks Extra Capital To Complete Redevelopment Construction
Tuesday, 24 February 2026, 4:44 pm | Canterbury Museum
Canterbury Museum is a significant heritage building and one of the last major public buildings to be fully upgraded and reopened since the Canterbury earthquakes. More >>
A Lost World Unearthed: Ancient Cave Reveals Million-Year-Old Kākāpō Ancestor
Tuesday, 27 January 2026, 3:14 pm | Canterbury Museum
It indicates that New Zealand’s ancient wildlife was significantly impacted by catastrophic climate changes and volcanic eruptions. This resulted in frequent extinctions and species replacements well before human arrival. More >>
Construction Starts On Museum’s New Basement And Building
Thursday, 9 October 2025, 12:56 pm | Canterbury Museum
Last night, Leighs Construction contractors poured the first slab for the outer basement floor, about 13% of the total area. Several more large concrete pours will take place over the next 2 years to create both the outer and inner basement floors. More >>
Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Returns With 100 Spectacular New Images
Tuesday, 16 September 2025, 4:26 pm | Canterbury Museum
Wildlife Photographer of the Year, which is celebrating its 60th year, is the most prestigious photography event of its kind, providing a global showcase for some of the world’s best photographic talent. More >>
Ancient Aotearoa New Zealand Was A Paradise For Penguins With Giant Pointy Beaks
Wednesday, 13 August 2025, 9:18 am | Canterbury Museum
The researchers identified the new species from the wealth of new fossils recovered from the area in the last 20 years. The findings were recently published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. More >>
Quake City Opens Doors With Free Entry Weekend
Wednesday, 30 July 2025, 9:08 am | Canterbury Museum
The free weekend has become an annual fixture in Christchurch, with thousands of people visiting Quake City during the event last year. It is made possible by major sponsor Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake, formerly EQC, which has supported ... More >>
Magpie Ancestors Lived In Aotearoa New Zealand 19 Million Years Ago, New Study Finds
Thursday, 26 June 2025, 11:03 am | Canterbury Museum
The newly discovered bird, which the researchers have named the St Bathans Currawong, lived in New Zealand around 19 to 16 million years ago. More >>
Epic Tales From Aotearoa New Zealand’s Bloody Past Explored Through Film
Monday, 5 May 2025, 8:34 am | Canterbury Museum
Props, costumes and posters from New Zealand film history also star in the exhibition, including a carved pou and period costumes from River Queen and a film camera used by 1920s Kiwi filmmaker Rudall Hayward. More >>
Mystery Molars Lead To Discovery Of Giant Crayfish In Ancient Aotearoa New Zealand
Thursday, 17 April 2025, 10:55 am | Canterbury Museum
This world-first discovery could change the way fossils are identified across the globe. More >>
Dinosaur Dolphins Survived In New Zealand Long After Extinction Elsewhere
Tuesday, 14 January 2025, 9:04 am | Canterbury Museum
Icthyosaurs, marine reptiles that looked like dolphins, largely went extinct 100 million years ago. Canterbury Museum Senior Curator Natural History Dr Paul Scofield & University of Canterbury master’s graduate George Young spent 3 years studying ... More >>
Canterbury Museum Awards Contract For Its New Base-Isolated Basement And Building
Thursday, 14 November 2024, 1:19 pm | Canterbury Museum
Museum Board Chair David Ayers says the Museum has enough committed funding secured to complete a weathertight and insurable building and base-isolated basement, and to install any plant that is integral to the building construction phase. More >>
Inspiring, Eccentric And Beautiful Pottery Star In New Canterbury Museum Exhibition
Wednesday, 18 September 2024, 9:47 am | Canterbury Museum
A diverse collection of inspiring, eccentric and beautiful pottery from the 1960s to the present day star in Form & Fire opening at Canterbury Museum at CoCA on 20 September. More >>
Kākāpō Are The True Ancient Species Of New Zealand, Not The Kiwi Or The Takahē
Sunday, 15 September 2024, 10:48 pm | Canterbury Museum
The site, which was once at the bottom of a large prehistoric lake, offers the only significant insight into Aotearoa‘s non-marine wildlife from 20 million years ago. More >>
Shackleton’s Polar Medal Gifted To NZ’s Canterbury Museum
Wednesday, 21 August 2024, 10:00 am | Canterbury Museum
Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Polar Medal, one of the world’s most significant treasures from the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, has been gifted to Canterbury Museum by the Adson Trust. More >>
Quake City Opens Doors With Free Entry Weekend
Monday, 29 July 2024, 1:16 pm | Canterbury Museum
Canterbury Museum’s special exhibition leads visitors through the first earthquake of 4 September 2010, the widespread destruction and rescue efforts of 22 February 2011 through to the long recovery and rebuild. More >>
Stunning Images Unveiled In Wildlife Photographer Of The Year
Monday, 29 April 2024, 10:47 am | Canterbury Museum
On loan from the prestigious Natural History Museum in London, the exhibition offers a fascinating glimpse of wildlife across the world, taking visitors from the bottom of the oceans to the peaks of mountains. More >>
Ngā Hau Ngākau Closes With A Weekend Of Celebration And Music
Monday, 22 April 2024, 12:06 pm | Canterbury Museum
A celebratory weekend of music, art and events will bring the exhibition Ngā Hau Ngākau (Breath of Mine) to a close next weekend after a 6-year tour of Aotearoa New Zealand. More >>
Fred And Myrtle's Paua Shell House Returns – In Virtual Form
Friday, 12 April 2024, 9:49 am | Canterbury Museum
Fred and Myrtle's Paua Shell House is back as a virtual tour. The new interactive experience means visitors to Canterbury Museum at CoCA can once again enjoy the polished pāua shells, vintage carpet and retro glory of this Kiwiana classic. <img ... More >>
Araiteuru, The Epic Museum Redevelopment Journey Ramps Up
Monday, 25 March 2024, 12:00 pm | Canterbury Museum
View a fly through of the new Museum More >>
