Museum of Civilization reaches out across Canada and around the world

December 18, 2006

Museum of Civilization reaches out across Canada and around the world

Gatineau, Quebec, December 18, 2006 – Thanks to the phenomenal success of The Mysterious Bog People and other outreach projects, the Canadian Museum of Civilization’s travelling exhibitions program is connecting with a remarkable number of people worldwide.

Together, 10 of the CMC’s travelling exhibitions attracted 445,315 visitors between May 2005 and September 2006. Among the most popular were The Mysterious Bog People, “Rocket” Richard: The Legend – The Legacy, the Canadian Postal Museum’s Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Mail Order Catalogue in Canada and the Canadian Children’s Museum hit Pack Your Bags! A Kid’s Ticket to Travel.

The Mysterious Bog People opened in Vienna, Austria, last week after a tour that began in Germany, with stops in England, the Netherlands, Calgary, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and, of course, Gatineau, where an impressive 316,713 people saw the exhibition in 2002-2003. The total number of visitors worldwide could top 1 million during The Mysterious Bog People‘s presentation in Vienna.

The success of the CMC’s travelling exhibitions program underscores the importance of international partnerships in organizing successful exhibitions. The Mysterious Bog People, which reveals the fascinating early history of northwestern Europeans, is the result of a collaborative effort between four museums in Canada, the Netherlands and Germany.

More recently, the Canadian Museum of Civilization teamed up with the Samara Regional Museum in Russia for an ambitious research project that produced Masters of the Plains: Ancient Nomads of Russia and Canada, the innovative exhibition that opened in Gatineau on Nov. 30.

Coming next summer, Treasures from Beijing will bring a prized collection of the National Museum of China’s finest artifacts to North America for the very first time. In return, the CMC will create a special exhibition showcasing the treasures of Canada’s First Peoples, to be shown in Beijing in 2008.

“Such international exchanges help forge strong scholarly and people-to-people ties between countries,” says Dr. Victor Rabinovitch, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. “More important, they deepen our understanding of other societies, and enable us in turn to share Canada’s rich culture and heritage with the rest of the world.”

Outreach activities also help the CMC display national treasures for Canadians from sea to sea. Among the biggest successes is “Rocket” Richard: The Legend – The Legacy, which is now being shown in Val-d’Or, Que., the fourth stop on an eight-city tour across the country. A second tour is planned for 2008-2010.

Media Information:

Chief, Media Relations
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: 819 776-7167

Media Relations Officer
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: 819 776-7169

Fax: 819 776-7187


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