A sneak peek inside the Canadian History Hall
Canadians will soon be able to walk through 15,000 years of history when the new Canadian History Hall at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., opens July 1, 2017.
The exhibition was an ambitious undertaking by the Canadian Museum of History, requiring five years of research and collaboration.
"The hall is unapologetic in its exploration of Canada's history, depicting the moments we celebrate along with the darker chapters," said museum president and CEO Mark O'Neill in a media release.
These chapters, he said, "must be told if we are to offer an accurate and complete account of this country's past." The museum received feedback from over 24,000 Canadians in putting the exhibit together.
"When we spoke to these Canadians, at the beginning of the project, there was an absolute thunderous consensus that any history project should talk about the good and the bad," explained Lisa Leblanc."We took that quite seriously throughout."
The exhibition begins the moment visitors step into the passageway, a long curved walkway decorated with 101 silhouettes of national landmarks and cultural symbols and activities. The passageway eventually leads to the three exhibition galleries.
The exhibition is divided into three galleries — early Canada, colonial Canada, and modern Canada. The galleries showcase the major events and turning points in the each era told through a display of artifacts and multimedia presentations.
Over 1,500 artifacts are on display at the Canadian History Hall. Notable artifacts include the handcuffs worn by Louis Riel moments before his execution, a T-shirt worn by Terry Fox, and an ivory carving, the oldest known representation of a human face found in Canada.
