[BCMA] Wildlife, Vikings and Languages, 2013-14

Tue Sep 10 10:34:42 PDT 2013

[cid:image003.png at 01CEAE10.ED028C40]                                   NEWS RELEASE

September 10, 2013

Wildlife, Vikings and Living Languages at the Royal BC Museum in 2013-14

Victoria, BC ¨C Three new exhibitions are featured in the upcoming 2013-14 season at the Royal BC Museum. The world¡¯s best wildlife images, rare Viking artifacts from Sweden and the voices of First Peoples in BC are complemented by a full calendar of programs and activities.

¡°We are very proud to offer expanded, creative learning opportunities,¡± said Royal BC Museum Chief Executive Officer, Professor Jack Lohman CBE. ¡°This year we have a rich selection for all ages and interests with more than 60 activities to engage, inform and inspire.¡±

The new museum season begins November 29, 2013 with Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 contest winners from London¡¯s Natural History Museum. The striking exhibition features 100 large-scale, back-lit photographs chosen from more than 43,000 international entries and 96 countries. Categories include: Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Wildlife, Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year and World in Our Hands, a natural fit with some of the field work and research at the Royal BC Museum. This is the third year of all-new images ¨C and the worldwide stories behind them ¨C continuing to April 6, 2014.

On its first North American stop, We Call Them Vikings comes ashore from May 17 to November 11, 2014. This exhibition from Sweden challenges our commonly held beliefs as the Vikings emerge in a fascinating new light. Insights into Viking domestic life, death rituals, the significance of their craft, the power of mythology and the symbolism of their ships are explored. See hundreds of artifacts ¨C jewellery, swords, axes, and clothing ¨C some rare, and many which have never been shown outside Scandinavia. This exhibition is produced by the Museums Partner, Austria and The Swedish History Museum.

Coming in 2014, Our Living Languages: First Peoples¡¯ Voices in BC is a partnership project and exhibition being created by the First Peoples¡¯ Cultural Council (FPCC) and the Royal BC Museum. With 34 indigenous languages, BC is the most linguistically diverse region in Canada but only 5% are fluent speakers and the vast majority of those are elders. This exhibition will feature dynamic video and audio created by the FPCC¡¯s network of artists and cultural experts ¨C opportunities to hear their voices and perspectives. A key component will be stories about community champions working hard to ensure the vitality of their languages. Visitors will leave knowing that these are dynamic cultures; that there are many ways of being a Canadian; that language revival and maintenance are essential to keeping culture; and that our shared history begins with First Peoples.

New learning programs just for families this year will include two Night at the Museum sleepovers ¨C one in Old Town and one in the We Call Them Vikings exhibition ¨C as well as a ¡®bring the family¡¯ genealogy workshop. Adults-only evenings include Night Shift, a series of creative connections that begins with ¡®Living & Dying in Victorian Times,¡¯ as well as Swap Caf¨¦ dialogues on issues that matter to you, your community and the province. Daytime events for adults include an archival research boot camp, a photography day camp for grown-ups, and the ever-popular Live at Lunch noontime series.

Treasures from the BC Archives will be on rotating display in the lower lobby area of the archives building and six Sunday talks will celebrate the intersections of archives, history and our modern lives. Full details on all sixty 2013-14 exhibitions, events and activities will be available in print and online beginning September 11, 2013 at www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/visit/maps-and-guides/<http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/visit/maps-and-guides/>

This fall, a Woolly Mammoth ¨C star of the museum¡¯s second floor gallery ¨C comes to life on the giant screen of IMAX Victoria in the film Titans of the Ice Age, an action-packed portal to the Pleistocene ice age, 20,000 years ago. Beginning in mid-May 2014, the documentary film Vikings: Journey to New Worlds features the shipbuilding skill that set the Vikings apart from other cultures in the 9th through 12th centuries, as well as on-location filming at some of the most important Viking sites in Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland.

About the Royal BC Museum

As the provincial museum and archives, the Royal BC Museum explores the province¡¯s human history and natural history, advances new knowledge and understanding of BC, and provides a dynamic forum for discussion and a place for reflection. Through collections, research, presentations and partnerships, the museum and archives tell the stories of BC in ways that enlighten, stimulate and inspire.  Its two-hectare cultural precinct in Victoria includes a number of historically significant buildings and First Nations sites.

For more information about the Royal BC Museum, visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca<http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca>
or call 1©\888©\447©\7977.

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Please see 8 attached backgrounders and early media image sheets, higher res images are available on request.
More detail on each exhibition will be available closer to opening dates.

Media Contact:
Royal BC Museum Media Inquiries
250-387-3207
sstackhouse at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
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