The city of Winnipeg turns 150 this year, with today being the anniversary of the first meeting of City Council! Join Curator of History Dr. Roland Sawatzky in the Winnipeg Gallery to learn some of the amazing stories shared in this space.
This series will continue throughout 2024, so keep an eye out for more #Wpg150 videos!
As you travel through the Manitoba Museum, you’re transported to various places and times by the dioramas in the galleries. These dioramas are cared for by our Conservation team, who have a variety of challenges in their up-keep and must constantly adapt to find solutions to issues that arise! In this video, Assistant Conservator Loren shows us his favourite diorama and shares a bit of the upkeep that goes into preserving it.
Come back next week to watch part 2! To learn more about diorama conservation in Loren’s recent blog post, click here.
You may have visited a museum and wondered why some spaces are a bit dark, or have motion sensor lights. It’s to minimize light damage on delicate artifacts! In this video, Senior Conservator Carolyn tells us how conservators work to protect objects on display from light damage, and how you can protect your treasures at home!
By Mika Pineda, Learning and Engagement producer for Youth Climate Action at the Manitoba Museum
Working with youth always fascinates me. Their enthusiasm, creativity, and eagerness to learn are contagious; even tackling a complicated topic such as climate change is something that they are ready to take on.
Climate change is a global concern. It is the long-term change in the Earth’s overall temperature, with massive and mostly permanent effects. You see, climate change solutions are not simple for many, but for youth, you would be surprised with what they can come up with given the opportunity.
Young people play an important role in combating the climate crisis. They hold power in making a difference in the community and accelerate climate action. With youth’s increasing awareness and knowledge about climate change, many institutions are stepping up to provide a platform for them to pursue their climate change advocacies.
Participants host events to raise awareness and start important climate conversations. ©Manitoba Museum
The Manitoba Museum launched its first-ever Youth Climate Alliance program in March 2023. The Youth Climate Alliance is a group of high school students, age 14-18, who work together to better understand climate change and its impacts. Through a series of workshops and training, the Youth Climate Alliance host events “by and for” youth.
Since then, the program has had two cohorts with each cohort tackling various issues surrounding climate change – from global and local impacts of climate change to clothing and fast fashion. The participants of the Youth Climate Alliance organize and develop an event that aims to raise awareness and start important climate conversations with their fellow youth and even adults.
The Climate Alliance works together to better understand climate change and its impacts. ©Manitoba Museum
Do you know what your clothes are really made of? The Climate Alliance does! ©Manitoba Museum
While climate change is a big and complicated issue that the world is facing right now, programs such as the Youth Climate Alliance help provide a glimmer of hope to many, and with the start of the new year, the next cohort of the program is also around the corner!
Join the Alliance! The next cohort of the Youth Climate Alliance is now accepting applications.
The first cohort of the Alliance tackled the topic of global and local impacts of climate change. ©Manitoba Museum
The second Climate Alliance cohort explored the issue of “fast fashion” and the industry’s impact on climate. ©Manitoba Museum
Winnipeg, MB: January 2, 2024 – Stories of loss, stories of courage, stories of triumph. The Manitoba Museum is proud to host a pop-up exhibition which shares the emotional and impactful stories of Southeast Asian refugees who came to Canada between 1975 and 1985, and the stories of those who assisted them.
Impacted by the Vietnam War, the Lao Secret War, and the Cambodian Genocide, millions of refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were forced to flee their homelands and to seek safety in other countries. Hearts of Freedom: Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees tells the stories of these survivors, in their own words and through their unique perspectives, adding to the fabric of the Canadian history of immigration.
“At the Manitoba Museum, we strive to collect and tell the stories of all the peoples of our province. This is an important exhibition that shares the incredible history of the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian people who escaped war and genocide to find a new home in Canada, and in Manitoba.” – Roland Sawatzky, Curator of History at the Manitoba Museum.
The exhibition, curated by Dr. Stephanie Phetsamay Stobbe and created in collaboration with the Hearts of Freedom Exhibition Committee, is comprised of a variety of panels detailing the stories of refugee journeys through photographs and shared memories captured in interviews. Each panel’s interpretive text gives the reader further insight into the paths and obstacles faced by those making the difficult and often dangerous expedition.
“This is the first museum exhibition in Canada that showcases the Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian experiences in resettlement and settlement in Canada, and their successful integration. It also highlights the contributions they have made and continue to make in Canada and around the world.” – Stephanie Stobbe, Curator of HOF – Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees and Professor at Canadian Mennonite University.
Hearts of Freedom: Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees, will open to the public in the Manitoba Museum’s Festival Hall on January 5, 2024, with an official opening event on January 19. The exhibition will be on display until April 7, 2024.
The exhibition was created by Dr. Stephanie Stobbe and the Hearts of Freedom Museum Exhibition Committee, in collaboration with Canadian Mennonite University, Carleton University, the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, the Canadian Immigration Historical Society, the Vietnamese Canadian Federation, the Lao Association of Ottawa Valley, the Cambodian Association of Ottawa Valley, the Pacific Canada Heritage Centre – Museum of Migration, and the Manitoba Museum.
The Hearts of Freedom exhibition tour is funded in part by SSHRC and private funders.
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Media Contact:
Brandi Hayberg
Manager of Marketing & Communications
Manitoba Museum
bhayberg@manitobamusuem.ca
Before the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection was donated to the Manitoba Museum, it was displayed elsewhere by the company. Learn how this tableau at the entrance to the HBC Gallery relates to the first HBC Museum in this video with Dr. Amelia Fay.
Check this spot out when you visit during Pyjama Days! Until January 7, 2024, we’re open daily from 10 am to 5 pm, with family fun in all three of our incredible attractions.
Here in Manitoba when our roads and sidewalks get icy in the winter, we may put down various kinds of deicer to help make slippery surfaces safer. But which deicer is faster? In this video we race salt, sugar, and beet juice – all of which have been tested as actual road deicer in various places!
Which do you think will melt snow fastest?
Try this experiment at home by following along with this video, or click here for the PDF instruction guide.
Music: “Maple Leaf Rag” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Join us for more winter science experiments during Pyjama Days @ the Manitoba Museum! Running 10 am to 5 pm from December 26 to January 7.
Are you doing any baking this holiday season? In this video, learn about the four main spices that go into a classic gingerbread with Curator of Botany Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson!
To learn more about the roots, shoots, flowers, and fruits of gingerbread, read Dr. Bizecki Robson’s latest blog, click here: Roots, Shoots, Flowers, & Fruits: The Anatomy of a Gingerbread Cookie
You may have heard of spear points or arrowheads before, but have you heard of atlatl dart points? In this video, Curator of Archaeology Dave Finch takes us through a quick history of projectile points in Manitoba and shows us how an atlatl works!
Winnipeg, MB: December 5, 2023 – The Manitoba Museum is pleased to have welcomed two new curators in 2023. David Finch joined the Museum as the Curator of Archaeology earlier this year; and Dr. Joe Moysiuk has taken on the role of Curator of Palaeontology and Geology as of November 6.
Born in Winnipeg and raised in Northern Manitoba and Northwest Ontario, David Finch is an archaeologist and ethnohistorian whose research focus lies in community-based archaeology, which involves forming partnerships with communities to tell the stories that matter to them.
Finch’s primary role at the Manitoba Museum will be to oversee the care and management of the archaeology collection at the Museum. This includes monitoring and tracking over 2.5 million artifacts (mostly from Manitoba), working with conservators to make sure that the artifacts are safe and stable, and managing new additions to the collections. Finch will also handle loans of artifacts for research and display purposes, help design exhibits in the museum galleries, and share advice and information with visitors and media.
Finch hopes to use his role as a platform to work with Indigenous and other communities as a partner on research and training.
“It’s good to be back home in Manitoba, and I am looking forward to applying what I’ve learned while away. We have an amazing history here, and I am honoured to be involved in its stewardship.” – David Finch, Curator of Archaeology, Manitoba Museum
Dr. Joe Moysiuk’s expertise centers on the oldest animal fossils and insights they provide about the evolution of major groups. Much of his research has focused on early arthropods, distant relatives of modern insects and spiders.
Moysiuk hails from Toronto and has taken part in palaeontological field work across Canada, notably including major expeditions to the Burgess Shale in B.C. that have unearthed new and noteworthy fossil species from the dawn of animal life. He has also enjoyed many opportunities to share these discoveries with the public, including through museum exhibitions and public talks.
At the Manitoba Museum, Moysiuk will oversee the care of roughly 35,000 fossil, rock, and mineral specimens and will work strategically to enhance collections from understudied regions.
“Manitoba boasts an almost unfathomably ancient rock record, preserving evidence of the myriad changes undergone by the Earth and life through deep time. I’m greatly excited by this chance to explore and communicate these stories, which are profoundly relevant, not only to Manitobans, but globally.” – Dr. Joe Moysiuk, Curator of Palaeontology and Geology, Manitoba Museum.
Dr. Joe Moysiuk looks forward to expanding his research focus to rare fossil deposits exhibiting soft tissue preservation in Manitoba.
“We are thrilled to welcome David Finch and Dr. Joe Moysiuk to the Manitoba Museum’s curatorial team. Each of them brings new insights and community collaboration, and will help continue to enhance the Museum collections for present and future generations.” – Dorota Blumczyńska, CEO, Manitoba Museum.
Click here to meet the Museum’s entire Curatorial Team
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Media Contact:
Brandi Hayberg
Manager of Marketing & Communications
Manitoba Museum
bhayberg@manitobamusuem.ca
