The Ngā hua a Tāne: The Future of our Fruit exhibition explores how fruit production can be affected by changing climates and how new varieties of fruit can help growers produce high-quality fruit in a warming environment.

Developed as part of an MBIE Endeavour-funded research programme,the exhibition centres around an interactive module that allows visitors – primarily families with 8-12 year old children – to learn about genes associated with climate-related characteristics currently under investigation by scientists and grow a plant with their favoured gene in the virtual community orchard.

Led by Prof Andrew Allan, The Flowering Crisis is a six-year Endeavour Fund Research Programme aimed at building knowledge to support breeding of new climate-resilient perennial crop varieties. The research focuses on the genetic controls of flowering in plants that currently require cold temperatures to trigger flower development and therefore develop fruit. Public engagement was a key part of the programme, bringing staff from Auckland Museum into the team to develop new ways to engage the New Zealand public with the scientific concepts under investigation.

Ngā hua a Tāne: The Future of our Fruit opened on Friday 25 September 2026 and will run until February 2027. More information can be found on the Museum website.