Come and see this exhibition – Lessons from the Arctic: How Amundsen won the race to the South Pole, then follow up with one of the associated lectures. Sponsored by Royal Norwegian Embassy, Canberra and in association with the Norwegian Honorary Consulate General, Wellington Victoria University of Wellington and the New Zealand Antarctic Society.

This panel exhibition of 30 images and personal accounts reveals how the lessons Amundsen learnt from earlier experience in both polar regions helped him win the race to the South Pole. The images were taken by the expedition crew, hand-coloured by Amundsen and used in his lecture series of 1912. See what the public saw in those heady days of icy exploration. This exhibition will surprise and delight!

The exhibition is open to 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. No booking required.

Associated public lectures at the same location will be given at 6pm on

  • 1 February (film and discussion on Amundsen's journey), find out more here.
  • 14 February (a historian's view of the race to the pole), find out more here.
  • 19 February (a scientist's view of today's race to save the poles), find out more here.
  • 25 February (an architect's view of building on the Antarctic continent), find out more here.

Location: The Atrium - Faculty of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington, 139 Vivian Street, Te Aro Campus, Wellington

For further information: https://royalsociety.org.nz/events/lessons-from-the-arctic-how-amundsen-won-the-race-to-the-south-pole-exhibition

Related content

We have many great resources to support this event under our Antarctica topic.

A good place to start could be with this article that introduces our series of resources based on Thin Ice – The Inside Story of Climate Science, a film that looks at what’s really happening with global warming by filming scientists at work in the Arctic, the Antarctic and around the world.

You may be also be interested in our timeline on Antarctica: early discoveries to 2007.

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