Letters, Tinder messages to feature in upcoming Auckland Museum love exhibition
Auckland Museum is calling on the public submit personal messages they have received in their life about love, loss and longing.
Letters, texts, postcards and even Tinder messages Aucklanders have sent to one another will be compiled into an upcoming exhibition in mid-2021.
Auckland Museum spokesperson Nina Finigan said the exhibition will explore the ways Aucklanders communicate feelings of love, loss, and longing, and how that has changed and stayed the same over time.
“Love, loss and longing – these feelings are universal and reveal something profound about what it means to be human,” she said.
“How we communicate these emotions continues to evolve but our need to tell people we love and miss them is timeless.”
Submissions can be anything from a love letter physically received in the mail, an email from a friend overseas, an affectionate card from a family member or messages from a Tinder profile.
They can focus on love lost in the form of a breakup message, a letter from someone disclosing profound grief, or a letter that takes on new meaning after the sender has passed away.
Family stories where letters or messages played a key part, or letters that have been passed down in your family, are also welcomed for submission.
"We acknowledge that such messages are highly personal. We are committed to ethical use and display of personal stories and will work alongside submitters to ensure their stories are treated with care, sensitivity and respect,” Finigan said.
To submit items for consideration please send a photo, scan or screen grab of the letter, email or message history to submissions@aucklandmuseum.com
Submissions close Sunday 13 September.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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