Canterbury Museum Pop-up
Introduction
Canterbury Museum Pop‑Up is located in Christchurch, New Zealand, at 66 Gloucester Street. While the main museum on Rolleston Avenue is undergoing major redevelopment, visitors can still enjoy a rich and engaging museum experience at this temporary city venue. Situated in the CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki building, the Pop‑Up invites locals and visitors alike to explore highlights of the museum’s extensive collection in a fresh setting.
About the Museum
The Canterbury Museum Pop‑Up opened on Matariki, 14 July, in Christchurch’s centre city, offering a welcoming and free entrance to all visitors. It occupies the first floor of the CoCA building, while the ground floor continues to host contemporary art exhibitions behind the Lux Espresso café .
One half of the Pop‑Up space is dedicated to collection highlights and visitor favourites drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, which spans more than 2.3 million items. Although the space is smaller than the original gallery, the displays are thoughtfully selected to represent the breadth of the museum’s offerings, including taonga Māori and Pasifika objects, historic artefacts from the Antarctic, Early Settlers, and Mountfort galleries, and beloved icons such as the horse from The Christchurch Street and Ivan Mauger’s gold bicycle.
The other half of the Pop‑Up hosts temporary exhibitions. The current featured show is Six Extinctions, produced by Gondwana Studios. It includes a life‑sized cast of the largest Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered, together with representations of top predators from different geological periods such as Dunkleosteus, Inostrancevia and Postosuchus. The exhibition traces the five major extinction events in Earth’s history and brings visitors to the present-day sixth extinction crisis driven by climate change .
In addition, the Pop‑Up offers a new interactive virtual presentation of Fred and Myrtle’s Paua Shell House. This beloved Kiwiana display has been digitally captured in high definition and is now available for visitors to explore via a vintage‑style television touchscreen. The virtual tour recreates the rich and whimsical ambience of the original shell‑adorned house, complete with music, video and narration.
Interesting Facts
- The Pop‑Up venue is inside the CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki building at 66 Gloucester Street, Christchurch.
- Only around 80 objects from the museum’s permanent collection are on display at the Pop‑Up, selected to represent the full spectrum of the museum’s offerings.
- The Six Extinctions exhibition includes a full‑scale cast of what is described as the *largest Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered, created by Gondwana Studios, and remains on display until early December.
- The Paua Shell House, once part of the museum’s permanent gallery, has been reimagined as a virtual interactive experience available on the touchscreen in the Pop‑Up; it will return to the redeveloped main museum in time.
- The Pop‑Up continues to showcase favourite displays such as the horse from The Christchurch Street and Ivan Mauger’s gold bicycle, along with taonga Māori and Pasifika objects, animal taxidermy and Antarctic memorabilia.
Photo Gallery
Physical Location
Contact Details
Phone: +643 366 5000
Website: canterburymuseum.com/
Facebook: facebook.com/canterburymuseum/#
Conclusion
The Canterbury Museum Pop‑Up at CoCA offers an inspiring and engaging stop for anyone keen to experience the essence of Canterbury Museum during the main site’s redevelopment. It brings together a thoughtful selection of collection favourites and a captivating temporary exhibition in a compact, welcoming space. Highlights such as the Paua Shell House virtual tour and the dramatic Six Extinctions dinosaur show provide wonder and discovery for all ages. Admission is free (with donations appreciated), making it an accessible cultural experience in Christchurch’s central city. Whether you are a returning local or a visitor exploring Aotearoa New Zealand, the Pop‑Up provides a meaningful and memorable glimpse into one of the country’s most treasured cultural institutions.
