Otago Museum
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The Otago Museum is a museum situated in Dunedin. It is Otago's largest cultural and heritage institution, with a collection of over two million artefacts and specimens from the fields of natural science and human history. The museum is located close to the University of Otago in Dunedin North, some 1500 metres northeast of the city centre.
The museum has undergone many changes over the years, with the most recent being the addition of a new display area "Southern land, Southern people", dealing with the prehistory and history of the Otago region, and the refurbishment of galleries devoted to the cultures of Melanesia. The museum has a significant collection of Māori and Pacific Island artefacts, notably a large waka, and also a large collection of natural history items. Notable among the latter is a large collection related to New Zealand bird-life, including the world's most extensive collection of Moa remains.
The Otago Museum was founded in 1868. The initial part of the collection incorporated material from the 1865 New Zealand Exhibition (held in Dunedin), though the current building dates from 1877, with additional wings (the Hocken and Fels Wings) added at a later date. The museum also houses lecture theatres and an interactive children's display centre ("Discovery World"), as well as a research centre and galleries which regularly host touring exhibitions. The entrance foyer is also home to an extensive shop and cafeteria.
The museum is Dunedin's most visited attraction, with over 300,000 visitors per year.
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