Hei Tiki

Dougal Austin - Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu, will talk about his book – Hei Tiki – An enduring treasure in a cultural continuum; which was published by Te Papa Press in 2019. His research interest in hei tiki grew out of his curatorial work on the Kura Pounamu exhibition. Dougal’s personal interest in hei tiki was sparked earlier when working with the hei tiki collection at Tūhura Otago Museum in the early 90s.

Dougal is the Senior Curator, Mātauranga Māori at Te Papa.

His academic biography includes a Master's degree in Māori Studies (VUW), a Post Graduate diploma in Museum Studies (Massey) and a Post Graduate diploma in Anthropology (Otago).

Dougal is one of New Zealand's foremost experts, and we are delighted to be able to offer this talk as we close the beautiful Kura Pounamu: Our Treasured Stone exhibition.