Online Exhibits
Alberta Communities: Then & Now
created in 2005
Alberta Communities: Then & Now is a virtual exhibit developed to give a lasting presence to a collection of important stories and photographs from Alberta community museums. These stories were first collected and showcased as a part of the 2005 Alberta Centennial Celebrations in an exhibition at the Royal Alberta Museum and a special edition of Alberta Museums REVIEW that was distributed free to museums, archives and libraries in Alberta and Saskatchewan and to visitors to the Royal Alberta Museum. The virtual exhibit is available in English and French. Note: The large images in this exhibit appear in a pop-up window. If you have your browser configured to block pop-ups, you will not be able to view these images.
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Alberta's Fish Diversity
created in 2006
Visit our fish diversity website; an image-based exploration of the ecological interactions among Alberta's fishes. Produced with the support of the Alberta Conservation Association, this site displays the diversity of Alberta's fishes and discusses the role of each species in a healthy aquatic community. Photographs of both game and non-game fishes were chosen specifically to promote a sense of connectedness with our aquatic neighbours. Understanding and caring about our natural resources is the first step in preserving biodiversity.
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Anno Domini: Jesus Through the Centuries
created in 2000
Hosted by the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), this is a major virtual exhibition exploring the influence of Jesus on Western civilization. The Virtual Jesus Through the Centuries explores the various ways Jesus and his teachings have shaped the development of Western civilization during the last 2,000 years. Gracing the pages of the Web site are artworks from museums, churches and monasteries from around the globe. This exhibit is featured by the Virtual Museum of Canada and is available in both English, French and Italian.
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Arpillera: The Cloth of Resistance
created in 2011
At first glance, these textiles look like joyful representations of life in Chile. The colourful fabrics and embroidery suggest holiday souvenirs. However, if you look closely, these images are evidence of a much darker side of Chilean life. Arpilleras were made by women whose family members had disappeared under the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, which lasted from 1973 until 1990. The embroideries gave women a voice and brought the world's attention to their suffering under the brutal Pinochet regime.
These arpilleras were first exhibited at the Royal Alberta Museum (at that time the Provincial Museum of Alberta) in 1988, the same year that Pinochet was forced to allow democratic elections in Chile. The arpilleras were later purchased by the Friends of the Provincial Museum of Alberta and donated to the Museum. This web exhibit was created in cooperation with members of the Edmonton Chilean community who had lived under the Pinochet regime.
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Butterfiles North and South
created in 1999
This virtual exhibit is part of the Virtual Museum of Canada and was produced by Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) in partnership with the Royal Alberta Museum and museums in Canada and Peru. This site is for anyone with an interest in butterflies or moths. It contains resources for teachers, students and amateur lepidopterists (butterfly watchers). Butterflies North and South features a gallery of butterflies native to Canada and Peru, a glossary with dozens of butterfly-related words, tips on attracting butterflies to your garden, hotspots for butterfly-watching in North America, teacher's lesson plans, a bibliography, and links to buttefly sites around the world. The site is available in English, French, and Spanish.
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Christmas Traditions in France and Canada
created in 1995
Hosted by the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), this exhibit explores the origins of the celebration of Christmas, its shape in France, Quebec and in the living traditions of Alberta. This project is a collaboration between the Royal Alberta Museum, the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec and the Ministere de la Culture et de la Francophonie. The exhibit is available in English and French. This exhibit is featured by the Virtual Museum of Canada.
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Eggs - A Virtual Exhibition
created in 2006
Eggs - A Virtual Exhibition is the closest you may ever get to seeing wild bird eggs without disturbing birds at the nest. This virtual exhibit showcases eggs of the world with a special emphasis on the eggs of Alberta. The Royal Alberta Museum hosts one of the most extensive egg collections in North America. We have an on-line field guide with over 300 egg images as well as information on egg biology and a touch of egg trivia. The exhibit is available in English and some components are available in French. This exhibit is featured by the Virtual Museum of Canada.
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Empress of Ireland: Lost Ship, Recovered Voyages
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Finding Our Way Home
created in 2002
Once an integral part of the western Canadian landscape, the traditional wood grain elevator has all but disappeared. In 1934, Alberta boasted more than 1,700 grain elevators; as of March 2002 there were only 161 of these industrial buildings left and more demolitions slated as rail and grain companies continue to consolidate their holdings. The grain elevator's disappearance from the landscape signifies the dramatic changes that are taking place in Alberta's grain industry and family farm operations.
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Genghis Khan: Treasures of Inner Mongolia
created in 1998
In 1997, the Royal Alberta Museum was the last stop on a world tour of an exhibition that featured archaeological treasures from one of the greatest empires in history.
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Master Guide to the Warblers of Canada
created in 2001
This presentation uses specimens of the warbler family (Parulidae) in a new and innovative way. Museum collections offer the chance to get close to birds in order to look at the finer details of plumage and size not only for professional biologists but also for bird banders, carvers, and bird enthusiasts.
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Piece By Piece: The GWG Story
created in 2010
The Great West Garment Company (GWG) was established in Edmonton in 1911 and by World War II GWG was the largest workwear manufacturing company in Canada. Visit this dynamic website to see and hear the stories of the workers and changing denim fashion through text, videos, artifact images and vintage advertising material.
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Rise of the Black Dragon: Cultural Treasures from China
created in 1999
Through artifacts and video footage of recent archaeological investigations, Rise of the Black Dragon: Cultural Treasures from China (October 9 1999 - January 9 2000) traced the history of northeastern China and its people over 6,000 years. The central piece of the exhibition was a reconstruction of the interment ceremony of a high-ranking Jin Dynasty noble, discovered in 1988. The exhibition featured 187 artifacts from Heilongjiang Province, China, which had never been viewed outside Asia. Get a glimpse of these artifacts through this virtual exhibit.
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Stories from the Southesk Collection: A 150-Year Journey
In June 1859, the 9th Earl of Southesk headed out from Red River on a hunting expedition. Over the next seven months, he and his Métis guides travelled more than 4,000 kilometres across the northern plains to the Rocky Mountains and back. Along the way, Southesk acquired objects made by First Nations and Métis people. Returning with him to Scotland, the collection became part of the family estate. Then, in 2006, it came up for auction. Assisted by a Moveable Cultural Property grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Royal Alberta Museum purchased 33 of the 43 objects sold.
Stories from the Southesk Collection showcases this significant collection. It also explores the stories of people associated with the expedition and with the objects that the earl collected. We invite you to meet these people–Anishnaabe, Blackfoot, Cree, Métis, Nakoda–and enjoy the remarkable legacy that they created.
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The Poster War: Allied Propaganda Art of The First World War
The Poster War exhibit contains forty-six posters selected from the collection of the late Theodore Elizabeth Wright Macgillivray. These posters represent some of the work of Allied poster artists and the best work of their Canadian counterparts during the First World War. The exhibit is available in English and French.
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Virtual Collection
created in 2006
Take a look at some of the fascinating specimens and artifacts in the Royal Alberta Museum's collections! The Virtual Collection uses three-dimensional virtual reality to display actual photography of real artifacts in the Museum collection. Visitors can view, rotate, and zoom-in on three-dimensional objects to examine them closely. Available in English and French.
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