Discover the fascinating science lurking beneath the surface of history’s most enduring legends at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum in a new exhibition, Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches, open from Saturday 14 December 2024 until Sunday 27 April 2025.
Blood is a vital source of life for humans, and an abundant food source for an astounding 30,000 species across the globe, including birds, mammals, fish, insects, leeches, and flatworms. Bloodsuckers draws visitors into this world, starting on a microscopic level with the biology behind blood. Immersive experiences, larger-than-life installations, and interactive displays delve into these diverse organisms and their feeding mechanisms in detail, showing visitors just how clever blood-feeders are, and the intricate ways they have evolved to take blood and thrive on it.
Bloodsucking animals have captured the human imagination for centuries, providing fodder for fear and fantasy. Stories of vampiric creatures persist across cultures and time, borne out of fear of the unknown, from the first publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1897 and his immortal incarnations on stage and screen, to the more recent urban legend of the coyote-like Chupacabra. In the exhibition, immersive experiences bring myths and beliefs in the undead and bloodthirsty beasts to life, highlighting the history of vampire hunting and pop culture’s most famous monsters.
The exhibition showcases over 200 unique objects, including wet, mounted, and taxidermy specimens, 17th–19th century bloodletting instruments, and 20th-century pop culture artefacts, all telling the story of blood feeding creatures through time. The interactive exhibits allow visitors to explore these creatures up close, with highlights including a giant glowing column of red blood cells, an old-world bloodletting shop, an audio experience of a mosquito swarm and a retro movie theatre playing clips from classic bloodsucker-inspired films.
Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches is coming exclusively to Auckland Museum and opens Saturday 14 December. Tickets are on sale from Tuesday 26 November.
