Oh Canada! How lucky we are. When it comes to vacations we have it all … right here at home. Sea-shores, lakes and mountains, cities and hamlets, museums and gardens, winter sports and summer delights. If travel restrictions keep us thinking about vacations in Canada, we couldn’t be more fortunate. So how about resolving to learn something of our history and, perhaps, sharing it with our children.
I’ll wager that most Canadians who have never visited Ottawa have said, at some time in their lives, ‘we must visit Ottawa one day’. Perhaps, soon, this will be the time.
There is such a lot to do in our beautifully-situated capital. There’s Parliament Hill, of course, museums and galleries, the bustling Byward Market area, tulips in the spring, boats passing through locks and the shores of the wide Ottawa River which offer parks, beaches and lovely walking and cycling trails. Then there are the rural joys of the Gatineau hills which can be seen from the city, gently rising in the north, where quaint villages and lots of outdoor adventures await.
Our capital holds many of Canada’s most important and finest museums, including the moving Canadian War Museum and the fabulous glass National Gallery of Canada, chock full of important art works from around the world and Canada itself. But for first-time visitors, for those who have promised themselves to learn more about our history and especially for those with children in tow, it’s hard to imagine a better place than the Museum of Civilization.
Architecturally this sombre concrete edifice could not be more different from its neighbours across the river: the glittering glass castle that is the National Gallery and the striking Gothic Revival building that is home to our Parliament. But the Museum of Civilization’s vast curvy design, on its waterfront location in Hull, is intended to bring to mind so many of the geological formations to be found in Canada. At the start of its construction, then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau arrived for the ground-breaking ceremony by canoe, dressed as a voyageur. You can’t get more Canadian than that!
But I’ve jumped ahead with the Museum’s story. It all started long before, in England in 1852 to be exact, when Canada made a highly successful contribution to the Great Exhibition of all Nations. This led, a few years later, to the creation of a small museum in Canada displaying our rocks and minerals and the commercial uses for which they could be used. This mandate was expanded and expanded. To the rocks and minerals were added plants, animals, fossils, fish and birds. Soon Aboriginal artefacts were added, along with information on Canadian settlements, land use, legends and languages. As our nation expanded, so did this collection.
No surprise, therefore, that after it had outgrown several homes in Montreal a new building was required. Pierre Trudeau broke the ground in 1983 and the new Canadian Museum of Civilization was born. It eventually opened in June l989 to great acclaim, including the description that it was one of the most sophisticated and ‘intelligent’ buildings in the world, with its fibre-optic network, interactive laser disc and satellite broadcasting systems and an IMAX theatre.
This museum is a most spectacular place. The soaring architecture of the Grand Hall alone is, I believe, unlike anywhere else. Then fill this vast space with a forest of totem poles and six houses built by Aboriginal artisans to represent the different First Peoples of the West Coast and you have a place every Canadian should see.
This vast hall, with its swirling steps and canoe-shaped ceiling, is a delight for children. But there’s so much more: there’s the self-contained Canadian Children’s Museum and the popular Canada Hall, a permanent ‘streetscape’ that takes visitors on a journey through time to learn about our history. Here costumed actors bring the exhibit to life – and delight visitors of all ages – with vignettes and re-enactments of both historic and domestic events, always remaining ‘in character’ as they answer questions about their imaginary lives. The museum also hosts major temporary exhibitions and IMAX films.
Today the Museum of Civilization is Canada’s most visited museum; what a long way it has come since 1856 when the Geological Survey of Canada was given a mandate to set up a small museum in a house in Montreal.
Of course we are facing a different ‘today’ now as the museum is temporarily closed due to the pandemic. It’s excellent website will inform about its eventual opening, at which time I hope it will be placed on lots of travellers’ ‘bucket’ lists. You won’t regret it!