Police and protestors.

New Zealand history

Our stories, told through the audiovisual records we hold in the collection.

1 to 36 of 57 items

13 March 2024

On the 50th anniversary of the Dawn Raids, we look at how the events are represented in our archive.
A group of Pacific Island women sit around a table at work during a break.

1 February 2024

Our annual Waitangi Day programme for 2024.

21 August 2023

Mātauranga Māori specialist Paora Sweeney looks back on an inspiring workshop about conserving cultural taonga.
A group of archivists and kaitiaki holding items outside a marae

13 July 2023

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is proud to present Matariki Kanohi Iti, our original programme for Matariki 2023.
Paora Sweeney speaking to camera at Zealandia

29 May 2023

A look at collection items relating to Hillary, Tenzing and Mt Everest on the 70th anniversary of their famous climb.
Hillary and Tenzing shaking hands. Courtesy Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.

14 December 2022

14 December 2022 marks 100 years since the crew of the HMS Chatham presented the Chatham Cup to the New Zealand Football Association.
Eight men are pictured playing a game of football

2 August 2022

A spotlight on some of the animated items in the collection, and where they fit in the history of animation in Aotearoa.

14 June 2022

The late Norman J. Hatch was a World War II combat cameraman who witnessed and filmed some of the most bitter fighting in the Pacific War.
Norm Hatch dancing with a young Māori woman in 1941.

7 April 2022

One of our long-time staff is leaving Ngā Taonga. Here David Klein takes a quick look at some favourite stories and items from the Archive.

8 March 2022

We are home to high-quality agriculture and horticulture industries. Much of what we produce is exported overseas and a big part of that game is advertising.
Black and white image of thousands of apples.

14 February 2022

For a long time, rail was the best (or only!) way to get around New Zealand, and the machinery and infrastructure attracted a large following.
BB class locomotive, number 629 in the Palmerston North railway yard.

30 November 2021

As an island nation, Aotearoa New Zealand has had a large number of maritime disasters.
Illustration of the wreck of H. M. S. Orpheus.

7 September 2021

An interesting picture and intriguing recording sent David Klein on a journey of his own across the desert, time and different heritage sites.
A man is wearing a hat and talking on the phone

24 August 2021

Through our archival recordings, one of our Te Arawa staff learned about the history of the eruption of Mt Tarawera.
Two men fishing on a lakeside.

22 June 2021

You’ve seen Ngā Taonga material much more than you realise. Our Customer Supply Team works with dozens of productions a year.
Someone being 'gunged' on children's television programme 'What Now?'.

23 February 2021

More than a century of changes in Dunedin can be seen on screen when we compare old and new footage.
Image of Dunedin superimposed with: 'Dunedin then and now'

21 April 2020

Māori and their stories have a long history in New Zealand moving image.
To love a Maor title card

16 March 2020

If you know two things about Lady Pokai, it’s that she loves te reo Māori and she loves Ngāti Porou.
A young woman standing in front of a wood backdrop.

12 September 2019

Men are milling about on the decks shifting supplies around, but take a closer look and the reality sinks in.
A stained glass window window depicting a kiwi and a tree with the word 'Samoa' in front of it.

3 April 2019

Did you know that Horowhenua was home to an international award-winning animation studio? Morrow Productions was formed in Levin by Bob Morrow and Mike Walker in 1950.
Image of Mike Walker and Bob Morrow, from Morrow Productions, standing behind a large pile of papers.

13 March 2019

Sir Hector Busby - Bridge builder, kaumātua, celestial navigator, waka builder.
Sir Hekenukumai Busby with the twin-hulled waka Te Aurere, Shelley Bay, Wellington.

12 November 2018

Origins of the Maoriland film company, based in Ōtaki, Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara Wellington region.
Parade down historic Otaki road.

23 January 2018

The sound recordings made at pōwhiri in January 1946 to welcome home the men of the (28) Māori Battalion, are the focus of a new online exhibition launched this week.
A Māori Battalion embroidered badge with a wreath and an arrow and axe crossed over.

9 October 2017

12th of October 1917, 843 New Zealanders were killed in just a few hours near Passchendaele during World War I.
New Zealand engineers resting in a large shell crater at Spree Farm following the First Battle of Passchendaele.

22 September 2017

Temperance campaigners who were keen to see prohibition of alcohol, knew many women would likely support them if they were able to vote.
Engraving depicting a woman holding a flag which reads, 'Perfect Political Equality', with a man helping her up to what is labelled as the 'Parliamentary Heights'

17 August 2017

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision has recently acquired a set of Insight documentaries, spanning 1997-2000, deposited by Adriann Smith, a former Radio New Zealand producer.
A group of boys are standing around watching three boys riding their skateboards upside down on their hands.

7 July 2017

The story of the New Zealand dollar switching over to decimal currency on the 10th of July 1967.

22 June 2017

The home side featured legendary New Zealand rugby names like George Nepia and Cliff Porter.
A 1930s graphic showing the faces of all members of a rugby team.

19 May 2017

The Plunket Society turned 110 years old this month.
A group of nurses are sitting on a porch feeding babies while other children are nearby.

20 February 2017

One great thing about working at an audiovisual archive is helping people connect with the stories and faces of their past
A screenshot of an old Mainland cheese TV ad. An older man stands in front of the Mahinapua Hotel with a group of other men behind him, leaning on a car.

13 February 2017

Historic figures have been brought to life in a new exhibition of 23 compelling portraits, accompanied by archival sound recordings from the RNZ collection at Ngā Taonga.
The inside of a dairy in Lyttleton. On the window is written 'London Street Dairy' with a drawing of an ice-cream. On the wall inside is a framed portrait of a young man.

10 February 2017

Through sound recordings, Sarah Johnston looks at the lives of New Zealand's early Chinese community.
Chinese gold miners and a reverend in Otago.

7 December 2016

This is how United States President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, described the 7th of December 1941.
An explosion on a beach during the attack on Pearl Harbour.

9 November 2016

A look back at New Zealand's relationship to Presidents of the United States of America
US President Lyndon Johnson is speaking into a microphone at the National War Memorial in Wellington.

28 October 2016

This Saturday is the 80th anniversary of national commercial radio in New Zealand, which started with station 1ZB Auckland on 29 October 1936.
An older woman is sitting in front of an old fashioned radio microphone.

16 October 2016

Eighty years ago today New Zealander Jean Batten became the first person to fly from Britain to New Zealand.
Jean Batten