Staff Picks: Favourites from the Canadian Museum of History
Nico’s Pick: Bedtime Story
Nicolas Franco, Training Coordinator
Nicolas Franco, Canadian Museum of History, IMG2013-0023-0011-Dm
When I led the First Peoples of Canada school program, I always ended the students’ visit under Sky Woman, the sculpture by Shelley Niro in the First Peoples Hall. We took time to reflect, and then I would recite the Haudenosaunee legend of the Sky Woman. For me, it was a way of concluding the tour as we might conclude a child’s day — by telling a bedtime story. I love how children’s eyes light up when they are enthralled by a story. My baby daughter has not yet met Sky Woman, but she has already heard the story!
Sky Woman installation by Shelly Niro, Canadian Museum of History. Photo: H. Foster
Jean-Luc’s Pick: A Modern Sistine Chapel
Dr. Jean-Luc Pilon, Curator of Ontario Archaeology
Dr. Jean-Luc Pilon, Canadian Museum of History, IMG2013-0023-0003-Dm
I always bring visitors to see Alex Janvier’s Morning Star in the River View Salon, the Museum’s own Sistine Chapel. For an unforgettable first impression, I tell my guests to keep their eyes down as I lead them to the southern end of the Grand Hall. As we pass the sculpture, Spirit of Haida Gwaii, I direct them to the special reclining chairs. Then, with something of a drum roll, I invite them to look up to the heavens. They react to the painting on the ceiling with dropped jaws and audible gasps. It’s a powerful moment and an incredible memory they will carry home with them.
Your mission:
Next time you’re at the Museum, grab a pair of binoculars, find a comfy position on a reclining chair and look up! Get lost in this work of art and ask yourself how Alex Janvier might have painted the ceiling. Was he lying on his back on scaffolding? Did he have apprentices to help him? Did he make models before painting the real thing? Find out more about this masterpiece in this interactive virtual exhibition: historymuseum.ca/morningstar/.
Morning Star, Canadian Museum of History, IMG2013-0173-0014-Dm
Maureen’s Pick: The Grand Hall
Maureen Ward, Senior Repatriation Analyst
Maureen Ward, Canadian Museum of History, IMG2013-0023-0007-Dm
The Grand Hall is a masterpiece and, as a geographer at heart, I have always been amazed by the traditional architecture of the Northwest Coast houses re-created here. Many of the details in their form and function are so incredibly adaptive to the environment. The Nuu-Chah-Nulth House is my favourite. Take a closer look: the walls are actually sewn together with twisted branches of cedar.
Your mission:
Can you spot other building techniques that show how these houses are adapted to their environment?
Grand Hall, Canadian Museum of History, IMG2014-0181-0019-Dm
What about you? What’s your favourite thing about the Museum of History?