The Whakatāne Museum is located in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and serves the Whakatāne District and the Mataatua rohē. The museum operates over two premises.

Take a voyage of discovery into our museum collection. Search the catalogue, and use the advanced search to find specific objects in the collection.

You can also find out about our latest exhibitions and events at Te Kōputu a te whanga a Toi - the Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre.

The Whakatāne Museum houses over 600,000 items in its collections. The Taonga Māori collection includes significant examples from Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngāti Rangitīhī and Te Whakatōhea as well as the Te Kōhika collection comprising examples from one of the most significant swamp excavations in New Zealand.

The Whakatāne Museum holds a comprehensive collection of archival material, which includes historical documents from the Whakatāne District and the Bay of Plenty region.

The Photographic Collection is extensive and documents the physical and social history of the past century, including images from early 1900s Whakatāne and the wider district. The collection includes 500,000 images.