August 2023
Spring Soirée's fabulous live auction items
Spring Soirée is Te Papa Foundation’s annual fundraiser – a chance to get into your best gala glam and enjoy a night in the museum.
As part of this evening of celebration, the Foundation has arranged a live auction filled with unforgettable experiences, fine jewellery, and contemporary art. Browse through these extraordinary offerings and plan your bids now.
Queenstown wine tour getaway
Experience a two night stay in Hulbert House Luxury Boutique Lodge in Queenstown, and a Brennan's Wine VIP experience.
Hulbert House is a beautifully restored Victorian villa located just 1640 feet from the centre of Queenstown with views over Lake Wakatipu and Skyline Hill.
This package includes a personal tour of the stunning Brennan Wines vineyard and a five wine tasting with Sean Brennan.
Kindly donated by Hulbert House and Brennan Wines
Private tour of Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War with Sir Richard Taylor
Join Sir Richard Taylor on a private tour of Te Papa & Weta Workshop's groundbreaking collaboration, Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War. Get behind-the-scenes insights into how each monumental figure was captured frozen in a moment of time.
The giant sculptures took a staggering 24,000 hours to create, and countless hours were spent researching their rich histories. Cutting-edge technology was also used to create 3-D maps and projections, miniatures, models, dioramas, and a range of interactive experiences that bring New Zealand’s Gallipoli story to life.
Following the tour, enjoy champagne and canapes with Sir Richard in Te Papa's exceptional Te Aka Matua reading room overlooking Wellington Harbour.
Truffle hunting with friends or whānau
You and three others can enjoy the rare experience of hunting for Black Périgord truffles at a charming truffle orchard located in Riwaka, New Zealand.
Consisting of a 3-hour tour taking the trained truffle dogs on a Sniffari through George and Pip's truffière during the 2024 truffle season (June-July), see and learn what hapens with the truffles after harvest, taste a truffle snack, and leave with a truffle of your own to enjoy at your leisure. This is truly an experience you cannot book yourself. Why not add on a weekend vacation in the Nelson region while you're there?
Kindly donated by George and Pip Laing at George's Truffles
ASHOKA® diamond pendant
This ASHOKA® diamond pendant is positioned horizontally with a brilliant cut diamond halo surround; is a stunning affirmation of William Goldberg's vision - extraordinary, exquisite, and filled with joy, it is a rare diamond without equal.
With its distinctive cut and 62 facets ASHOKA® diamonds appear 30 percent larger than an emerald-cut diamond of the same carat size. Christie's International Head of Jewellery called it, "a legend in the world of diamonds."
Kindly donated by Partridge Jewellers
Spiral | Lighttracer by Peter Roche
Dubbed the "punk-rock Len Lye," New Zealand artist Peter Roche (1957-2020) had a brilliantly varied career, working across provocative performance art, kinetic art and striking neon sculptures. His large-scale light sculptures are well-known and much-loved, including his dramatic installation Conduit (1998), a Y-shaped corridor of fluoro tubes, for Auckland Art Gallery and his ambitious public-art-scale works such as Coral (2000), which adorns the Vero Centre in downtown Auckland, and Saddleblaze (2008), at Gibbs Farm.
Spiral | Lighttracer is one of the rare examples of Roche's work created at a domestic scale, and has been kindly donated by Roche's longtime partner, Natasha Francois.
"I am pleased to donate this artwork in honour of my late partner, the artist Peter Roche for the benefit of the Te Papa Foundation in order to further the work of Museum of NZ Te Papa Tongarewa, along with the artists and access to contemporary art it in turn supports." - Natasha Francois
Kindly donated by Natasha Francois
To bid on these items, you must be in the room with us on Saturday 2 September for Spring Soirée. Buy your tickets here.
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