McCord Museum

There are currently two exhibitions on display at the Montreal's McCord Museum.

Toys 2 

This exibiton which targets mainly children, or those who are children at heart, rans from November 18, 2011 to March 11, 2012.

This is the Museum's second exhibition of toys. The first one took place a year ago. It was a great success and attracted some 30,000 visitors. This year has a special theme: a cat chasing, or rather searching, for a mouse. The young visitors have “to help” a cat to find a mouse. All are assured that the cat does not really want to eat the mouse, but simply to play with it.

The exhibition is broken into four separate themes through which the chasing of the mouse is pursuit. This is an engaging way for children to view more than 200 toys and artefacts, some of which date back almost 150 years. The exhibited pieces for this show were chosen from an amalgamation of some 11,000 items from Museum's various collections.

The children will be engaged in some physical activity as they have to climb under low ceiling entries, as for instance is the case of a masterfully constructed igloo, where pieces of “ice” are made from white pillows which could be lifted to reveal some of the museum’s treasures. Another such crawling entry leads to a treasure trove with costumes, where children can dress up and assume role playing.

Admission to this exhibition is free for children 12 and under. 

The second exhibition currently at the McCord museum:

Edward Burtynsky : OIL

This is another excellent exhibition currently on display at the McCord Museum. It runs from October 6, 2011 to January 8, 2012. It consists of 56 large colour photographs by a Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. Burtynsky explores the subject of oil and how this natural resource redefines the world as we know it, how it affects nature and the natural scenery. The vast landscapes shown in the photographs, offer rarely seen glimpses of oil production and distribution, of oil fields, oil sands, and oil refineries. Burtynsky’s work shows the impact the petroleum industry has on the lives of people, cities, the land, and the environment. His stunning photo images carry a social and ecological message that is disturbing but also thought-provoking. The images are artistically superb and beautiful, yet this does not diminish the intended impact of Burtynsky’s message nor the concerned opinion of the viewer.

To find more about these and other exhibitions and activities, visit the McCord Museum’s website

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/