Mapping 2015 Collections Activities
As we settle into 2016, we thought this might be a good time to reflect back on last year’s activities and take stock of what was accomplished. Our Research Division has been busy with many projects, not least of which were several great exhibitions — including Terry Fox – Running to the Heart of Canada, Our Flag at Fifty, The Greeks – Agamemnon to Alexander the Great, Magna Carta – Law, Liberty and Legacy, and our newest show, Vikings — to say nothing of the ongoing Canadian History Hall project.
On top of exhibition development, our team of curators undertakes many other research activities, including the development of the Museum’s collection of artifacts. I have taken the liberty of building an interactive map to give you a visual idea of the breadth of terrain we’ve covered in just one year. The map below shows the kinds of objects and stories we’ve been collecting. We have acquired material to represent each province and territory, with objects dating from around AD 515 (archaeological material) to the present.
A few disclaimers:
- The points on the map represent geographical locations related to the history of the objects, and do not necessarily reflect the locations where the objects were collected by the Museum.
- The locations on the map are approximate. For example, objects representing stories from Ottawa have been arbitrarily spread out across the map of the city to make for easier browsing. The points on the map do not reflect the addresses of donors, nor of historical events or figures. Zoom in on Québec City, Montréal, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver to see more stories and objects.
- Some stories take place across multiple locations over time. This was a challenge to conceptualize and, more often than not, we chose a single point on the map that had some particular significance. For example, Samuel Hearne’s journal (2015.11) recounts his journey from the shores of Hudson Bay to the Arctic. His northernmost point was chosen to display that object on the map. Other collections represented many locations (for example, the Summit Series of 1972 took place in many cities) so, when possible, those have been mapped individually.
- One collection was particularly vast (2012.17), covering more than 100 years of Canadian political history with well over 900 individual objects. That collection was mapped to Ottawa as the seat of Parliament, but its content could merit an entire map of its own. A project for another day, perhaps.
We can’t wait to see what 2016 will bring!