The Canadian Museum Of History

 I paid a visit to the Canadian Museum of History a couple of days before Christmas Eve, on a snowy day. Formerly the Museum of Civilization, this is situated on the shore of the Ottawa River in Gatineau, opposite Parliament Hill. We approach the exhibition wing.

And across from it is the curatorial wing.

This is the crowning achievement of Douglas Cardinal, an indigenous architect who lives in the area, and whose work can be found around the country, as well as in the US. My American readers may recognize his style in the Museum of the American Indian, another museum he worked on.

The Grand Hall is a large space within, consisting of totem poles and facades of Pacific Northwest houses that makes a big impression on the visitor. Large windows look out onto the river, though on this visit, the snow was obscuring things outside.

There were a couple of temporary exhibits going on. The first dealt with Canadian rock and pop music from the 1960s-80s. I stopped in and took a look at some items. The drumhead at center particularly caught my eye, as did one of the posters at right. Back in the day, Sarah McLachlan was opening for the Grapes of Wrath. Now she's a major talent, and my personal favourite rock singer.

The Grapes of Wrath started up in the 80s, becoming part of the growing alternative movement in music.

The Cowboy Junkies are still around, with their iconic Trinity Sessions album nearly thirty years old. I have several of their albums, and enjoy their sound.

The Northern Pikes were another part of the alternative movement in music.

I am not into heavy metal, so was totally unfamiliar with the band Voivod, but these items worn by their lead singer on stage really catch the eye.

By the same token, I've not been into punk music, but this guitar caught my eye. The Dishrags were an early all-female punk band, and this guitar belonged to one of them.

Mitsou is part of French-Canadian culture going back to the 80s, and this was her outfit at the time.

Kate and Anna McGarrigle are titans of Canadian folk, going back to the 60s, and this guitar belonged to the family.

Grouped together are instruments used by the band Rush. Geddy Lee played this double electric bass guitar on tour.

This doubleneck electric guitar was used by Alex Lifeson on tour.

And this is the drumhead used by Neil Peart.