Canterbury Museum's pop-up site is at 66 Gloucester Street, Christchurch. For 150 years the Museum has told the stories of Waitaha Canterbury, and it's now rewriting its own story through a major redevelopment. The Museum's long-time home on Rolleston Avenue is closed for this redevelopment, with this pop-up Museum at 66 Gloucester Street standing in as the place to visit in the meantime.
While the main building is being redeveloped, visitors can also explore the Museum's collections online, and follow the rebuild's progress and the stories behind the collection through the Museum's "Araiteuru — Our Journey" project. The Museum also operates two related sites: Quake City on Durham Street North, and Ravenscar House Museum on Rolleston Avenue.
Beyond exhibitions, Canterbury Museum runs research and education programmes, including school visit planning and learning resources, and offers ways to support the institution through donations and Museum Friends membership.
Canterbury Museum has spent 150 years telling the stories of Waitaha Canterbury, and it's currently in the middle of an ambitious new chapter of its own — a full redevelopment of its long-time Rolleston Avenue home.
With the Rolleston Avenue site closed for redevelopment, Canterbury Museum has set up a pop-up Museum at 66 Gloucester Street, giving visitors somewhere to go in the meantime. It's described on the Museum's own site as a way to keep the doors open, in spirit, while the bigger project takes shape elsewhere.
The redevelopment itself has its own name and identity: Araiteuru, Our Journey. It's framed as an epic journey of change — not just to the buildings, but to the institution itself — and visitors can follow the rebuild's progress and read the stories behind the Museum's collection as the project unfolds. Updates and key documents relating to the redevelopment are published as the work continues.
While the main Museum is being rebuilt, Canterbury Museum also operates two related sites that remain open to visit. Quake City, at 299 Durham Street North, tells earthquake stories, and Ravenscar House Museum, at 52 Rolleston Avenue, operates as a museum and art gallery. Between the pop-up, Quake City and Ravenscar House, there are several ways to engage with the Museum's work across the city during the redevelopment period.
For those who can't visit in person, Canterbury Museum's collections can be explored online, alongside a set of online exhibitions and a section of ongoing stories drawn from the collection. Latest news from the Museum is also published online, keeping visitors up to date between physical visits.
Canterbury Museum supports research through published work, a network of researchers, and dedicated research access pathways to the collection. On the education side, the Museum offers education programmes, including support for planning a school visit and a set of learning resources for teachers and students.
For those wanting to support the Museum directly, there are options to donate, to donate specifically to the collection, and to join as a Museum Friend — plus an online store for anyone wanting to take a piece of the Museum home with them.
Even with its main building closed, Canterbury Museum's pop-up at 66 Gloucester Street keeps the institution's 150-year story accessible, while the Araiteuru redevelopment journey gives visitors a front-row seat to watch that story being rewritten. Between the pop-up, the sister sites at Quake City and Ravenscar House, and the Museum's online collections, there's still plenty to explore while the rebuild takes shape.