Museums: March 2013 Archives

Saturday March 16, 2013

Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium aims for the stars

The largest natural sciences museum complex in Canada is in Montreal. And it just got bigger.

The Montreal Space for Life includes the Botanical Garden, Insectarium, Biodome and now a striking new Planetarium.

The Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium is located right next to the Biodome in the east end of the city, dominated by two large silver silos pointing like telescopes at the sky. Besides this distinctive, environmentally friendly architecture, the planetarium takes a unique approach to space, linking not only earth and sky, but also science, art and poetry.

The $48-million dollar planetarium opens on April 6th, but there's an open house for the public today.

We invited in the executive director of the Montreal Space for Life, Charles-Matthieu Brunelle, to tell us more.

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Categories: Museums, Science

Saturday March 16, 2013

Spirit Lake Internment Camp in Abitibi

During a recent trip to the Abitibi, the CBC's Marika Wheeler dropped by a museum that marks a shadowy part of Canada's past.

From 1914 to1920, thousands of immigrants of Austro-Hungarian descent were labelled 'enemy aliens' under the War Measures Act and were forced into work camps across the country.

There were 24 camps in all, and three of them were in Quebec. One camp near Amos in the Abitibi was called Spirit Lake. For a long time, all that marked the camp's existence was a cross--- a memorial. But after years of hard work, a museum is now there to pay tribute to that part of Quebec history.

Marika Wheeler joined Sona from our Quebec City studio.

(Photos courtesy of Spirit Lake internment camp corporation)

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