Here are some photos I took along the way (click on photo for larger image):
View of Parliament Hill from the lookout point adjacent to the Ottawa River
View of Ottawa city and Ottawa River
The Canadian Museum of Civilization (in Gatineau), from the lookout point in Ottawa
This is Pont Alexandra (Alexandra Bridge) which connects Ottawa and Gatineau. I walked across this bridge to get to the museum.
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The Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) is huge, and the collections in the museum really reminded me of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra (as they mainly cover the social history, rather than the natural history, of the nation). I spent the whole day at the CMC and only saw half of the exhibits. I am planning to go back there again to see the rest, hence this is only Part 1 of my blog post.
Today I started from the bottom level of the museum, which includes the Grand Hall and the First Peoples Hall.
The Grand Hall. Impressive, isn't it?
Entrance to the First Peoples Hall
This is a Button Blanket made by Canadian aborigines. It was one of the numerous exhibits that captured my attention today. Because it sort of reminded me of the amateur mosaic artwork I used to make as a hobby. I thought it was a neat idea to sew buttons in this way to make a gorgeous pattern on a blanket; I even thought, wouldn't it be amazing to do a design like this on a mousse cake or a plated dessert? (I know, I can't help having mousse cakes on my mind, seeing as we've made so many at School in the last few weeks.)
The thing I like about Canadian aboriginal art is the vibrant colours used (and also the stylish designs, of course).
I took this photo because I just love the beautiful designs and colours on traditional aboriginal garments and footwear. The colour combinations are simply aesthetically pleasing to me. I am actually quite inspired now, to the point that I am considering incorporating some of the designs into my pastries in the future.
In the First Peoples Hall, I heard a piece of music with Innu drums (with singing in an aboriginal language) that I found mesmerising, and I went to the Museum boutique (i.e. souvenir/gift shop) to ask if they sell any CDs with that particular piece of music, but they didn't. It was such a pity! I left somewhat disappointed. I will try and find out more about it the next time I go. I would love to know who the performers are. I like native and folk music in general, because of the harmony, melody and rhythm. The singers/performers convey such a lot of emotions in it -- to me, it is as if they have put all their heart and soul into the music. Be it a joyful expression of their existence, or the melancholic strains of a lament.
Oh yes, I also went to the special Glenn Gould: The Sounds of Genius exhibition at the Museum. It was an interesting look at a famous and talented Canadian pianist. The best part of the exhibition was the fact visitors to the museum could listen to some of his recordings.
This is the Steinway grand piano that Gould often used for his recordings.
Towards the end of the Glenn Gould exhibition area, there was a small area for museum visitors to listen to some of Glenn Gould's recordings (i.e. excerpts). Having been raised on Classical Music, I couldn't resist the opportunity to listen to quite a few of them, and I enjoyed his recordings of Bach's works (for which Gould is known). But the recording that I found most thought-provoking was his performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 (third movement). I'd listened to a number of other international pianists play this piece (aka the Emperor Concerto) before, but none were like Gould's interpretation. It was unique.
By about 4pm today (an hour before closing time), I was able to get to the Canadian Postal Museum exhibition on Level 2 of the Museum. It has a complete display of all the stamps ever issued in Canada. Despite having less than an hour to view the Canadian stamps and the associated collection, I learnt quite a lot of interesting facts about philately and human communication (and I can see stamp-collecting is a good way to educate children about other cultures, and to broaden their horizons). I really liked this part of the museum, and I am hoping to view the stamps again. I am not a serious collector of stamps, but I do have some interest in stamp-collecting, purely because I think of stamps as miniature pieces of art, and markers of particular moments in the social history of a nation.
Entry to the Museum costs $10 for students and $12 for adults. I can tell you it was well worth it.
Anyway, it was truly an inspiring day for me. This blog post is to be continued; I will go back to the Museum again soon.
