New Zealand Dominion Museum, Wellington

The New Zealand Dominion Museum building was finished in 1936 and sits on Buckle Street in Wellington, close to the National War Memorial. Initially, it housed the National Museum, the National Art Gallery of New Zealand, and the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. Presently, it serves as part of the Massey University Wellington Campus.

Before 1913, it was known as the Colonial Museum, situated in a small wooden structure behind what is now the New Zealand Parliament Buildings. The establishment of a board of trustees in 1930, under the National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum Act 1930, led to the construction of the building on Buckle Street. The new building accommodated the Dominion Museum, the National Art Gallery of New Zealand, and the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, which had sold their land and contributed the proceeds to the new organization.

In 1972, an act of Parliament changed the Dominion Museum's name to the National Museum. Then, in 1992, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Act 1992 merged the National Museum and the National Art Gallery to create the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The Dominion Museum building was featured in Peter Jackson's 1996 film, "The Frighteners."

The museum currently hosts the Great War Exhibition, curated by Sir Peter Jackson, honoring New Zealand's involvement in World War I. Admission to the exhibition is free for visitors and will remain open for the next four years, with donations gratefully accepted. Visitors can experience the harsh realities and horrors of the battlefields through guided tours, available for a small fee and departing every twenty minutes, offering an immersive experience of the exhibition.