The Canadian Museum of Civilization

June 22, 2003 3:17 AM

The Canadian Museum of Civilization's online presenceis a huge archive of arts, histories and cultures from Canada and beyond: Native Canadian toys, clothing and musical instruments; dolls in Canada; the Palaeo-Eskimos, who lived in the Arctic before the Inuit; Nova Scotian quilts; Central African artifacts; the 1897 Canadian Historical Dinner Service; landscape kimonos; Canadian war artists; Aba Bayefsky and his art based on the liberation of Belsen; French Canadian painted furniture; outdoor folk art; the Haida; a Tibetan Sand Mandala; puppets; the history of nurses' caps; the Canadian Postal Museum; the Nunavut voyages of Martin Frobisher; more.
posted by plep (7 comments total)

... and the Social Progress Gallery.
posted by plep at 3:19 AM on June 22, 2003

Wow, plep, this is like a Canadian Victoria and Albert. You sort of wonder how Canada got its reputation for being boring. Incidentally, I was quite taken aback by the level of British influence.

I had to laugh at this sentence from the Dinner Service link: The Honourable Ishbel Maria Marjoribanks was the daughter of Lord Tweedmouth.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:52 AM on June 22, 2003

Where's the Mr & Mrs Bob and Doug MacKenzie Museum?
posted by y2karl at 7:42 AM on June 22, 2003

Sorry, I just woke up. It's a great post as per plepusual.
posted by y2karl at 7:56 AM on June 22, 2003

The museam of civilization is excellent. It is quite different from typical museams with their rows and rows of artifacts behind glass. It has a number of exhibits where they have tried to recreate atmosphere of the time. You can walk through early pioneer buildings and such.

The Haida sculptures by the late Bll Reid and others are fantastic 1, 2, 3


And don't forget the Bog People exhibit running until Sept 1.
posted by srboisvert at 8:06 AM on June 22, 2003

I've been to the Museum twice and it's a fantastic experience. The last time I went, they had an exhibit of traditional musical instruments that was fascinating. For each instrument, you got a small history and a recorded sample of the sound. Then, there were some additional small instruments that you could actually play. Did you know that there are several countries other than Scotland that have their own style of traditional bagpipes?

The museum is across the river from Ottawa in Hull, Quebec. In several different places in Ottawa, there are signs for the museum, that say 'Civilization/Civilisation' and have an arrow pointing to the bridge to Quebec. You might have to be Canadian to appreciate the humour in that.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:01 AM on June 22, 2003

wow, this looks fabulous plep - at first I thought you were referring to the Le Musée de la civilisation in the city of Quebec where I have been often and which I would also strongly recommend. I generally drive up to Quebec City for a few long weekends every summer - maybe this year I will have to go to Ottawa, I was only there once. This truly looks like a jewel, and worth a trip. Canada is a great place to visit!
posted by madamjujujive at 8:04 PM on June 22, 2003