Loving Thy Nonsuch – Care of a Beloved Ship

Winnipeg, MB: October 23, 2023 – The Manitoba Museum will be a temporary home to a beautiful and engaging exhibition developed by the Kroeger Clocks Heritage Foundation in partnership with the Mennonite Heritage Village.

Keeping Time: The Art and Heritage of Mennonite Clocks provides an in-depth look into the craft and art of Mennonite clocks made in Europe and transported by immigrants to the Americas over the last two centuries. Beautiful in and of themselves, each clock also has an important story to tell about its owners and their experiences of migration.

“Several clocks featured in this exhibition are on loan from family homes, where their ticking and chiming connects present-day owners to their ancestors. Others are loaned from museum collections, where they are preserved for their cultural value,” says Alexandra Zeitz of the Kroeger Clocks Heritage Foundation, who is herself a descendant of Mennonite clockmakers.

For centuries, Mennonite clockmakers honed their craft to produce iconic clocks that brought beauty and structure into homes and communities. Today these timepieces carry emotional meaning. They survive as cultural representations and witnesses to the social and political upheaval experienced by their makers and owners. These clocks are now found around the world, wherever there is a Mennonite diaspora.

“These clocks were both beautiful and functional, but most importantly, they acted as symbols of family stability. They were taken along during Mennonite migrations to retain and transplant that social continuity,” says Roland Sawatzky, Curator of History at the Manitoba Museum.

This temporary exhibition features 15 Mennonite clocks, made between the late 1700s and early 1900s and transported to Manitoba by Mennonite immigrants over many decades. These beautiful timepieces were made in Mennonite workshops in Ukraine, and represent Mennonite migration stories, mechanical ingenuity, folk art, and family life.

Members of the media are invited to preview the exhibit in
The Manitoba Museum Discovery Room • Thursday, October 26 

Doors Open: 6:30 pm;
Welcome, Speeches & Refreshments: 7:00-7:30 pm;
Exhibit Viewing: 7:30-9:00 pm

Keeping Time: The Art and Heritage of Mennonite Clocks, will open to the public on October 27, 2023 in the Manitoba Museum’s Discovery Room. It will be on display until February 2024.  Exhibit admission is included in General Admission to the Museum Galleries.

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Media Contact: 

Brandi Hayberg
Manager of Marketing & Communications
204-988-0614
bhayberg@manitobamusuem.ca

Winnipeg, Manitoba: October 6, 2023 – On Saturday, October 14, the worlds will align as the Moon will pass in front of the Sun as seen from the Earth, creating a solar eclipse viewable from our province.

In light of this solar phenomenon, the Manitoba Museum’s Planetarium is joining forces with the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Winnipeg Centre and the Assiniboine Park Conservancy to host a free solar eclipse viewing party from 10am to 1pm in the Kitchen Garden at The Leaf in Assiniboine Park. Special solar telescopes will be accessible to provide safe views of the eclipse for attendees.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with other nature-based community organizations to create a fun opportunity for people to witness this solar spectacle,” said Jody Watson, Senior Director of Programming & Education, Assiniboine Park Conservancy. “The Park is a place where people can learn about the world around us, from the grass below to the skies above!”

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in front of the Sun and casts its shadow onto the Earth. The October 14 eclipse will occur when the Moon is near its farthest point from Earth, and so the Moon appears slightly smaller than the Sun. For viewers on the center line of the eclipse, the Moon will cross the center of the Sun but won’t quite cover it, leaving a thin ring of bright sunlight visible: an annular or “ring of fire” eclipse. Viewers on either side of the center line will see a partial eclipse. From southern Manitoba, the Moon will cover about half of the Sun’s diameter at maximum (less for those farther north or east).

“Eclipses are fascinating to watch, and they also show us that we know what we’re talking about in terms of how the solar system works. Astronomers can predict when and where an eclipse will occur down to the second, and if we didn’t have a good understanding of the mechanics, we wouldn’t be able to do that,” says Scott Young, Planetarium Astronomer at The Manitoba Museum.

The eclipse will begin at 10:28 a.m. CDT for Winnipeg when the Moon first begins to cover the sun (moving in from the bottom right). Over the next two-and-a-half hours the Moon will move across the Sun from right to left. Maximum eclipse occurs at 11:42 a.m. CDT, and the eclipse ends at 1:00 p.m. CDT.

“I love watching eclipses, whether it’s a partial one like this one, or the total solar eclipse that came through Winnipeg in 1979,” says Young. “Seeing that eclipse as a child made me decide I wanted to be an astronomer, at age 9, and set the course for my career. The sky is inspiring and amazing, and people should take every chance they have to explore it. You never know where it might take you.”

WARNING: DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN WITH UNPROTECTED EYES!

The Sun is always too bright to look at with unprotected eyes – special solar filters are required. Regular sunglasses or other homebuilt options are not enough – a specialized filter material is required.

“When watching an eclipse, safety is important,” says Young. “You can’t just use sunglasses or order some cheap filters online from an unknown source – there are a lot of unsafe fakes out there. Purchase new eclipse glasses from a reputable source, don’t try to save pennies and put your eyesight at risk for life.”

Certified safe solar eclipse glasses can be purchased for $3 at the Manitoba Museum’s reception desk 10 am to 4 pm, Tuesday to Sunday, leading up to eclipse day. Limited numbers *may* be available at the eclipse viewing party.

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Media Inquiries:
Scott Young
Planetarium Astronomer
204-988-0627
scyoung@manitobamuseum.ca