A photo of silent film star Mary Pickford. Alfred Cheney Johnston, ca. 1920s Library and Archives Canada, e010857304.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization is not just about to become the Canadian Museum of History but, as of March 21, it will also become a temporary stand-in for the Canadian Portrait Gallery.

Although Canada has no real bricks-and-mortar national Portrait Gallery, it does have a virtual one that pops into life now and then in various parts of the country. Most recently in Ottawa, the Portrait Gallery’s administrators, Library and Archives Canada, mounted an excellent small show at the Canadian War Museum displaying portraits of key players in the War of 1812.

Now the Canadian Museum of Civilization is on the verge of showcasing an exhibition of 100 portraits of 57 Canadians assembled by the portrait “program” at Library and Archives.

The exhibition is called Double Take: Portraits of Intriguing Canadians. It will be at Civilization from March 21 to Oct. 14. It has already appeared in Charlottetown at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery and at the McMichael Canadian Art Centre in Kleinburg, Ont.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Paul Gessell

Pwen Ibo (Ibo point). Made from terra cotta, bone, wood, and cloth. Pwen possess the power of a lwa or the spirit of an ancestor. Made by maji practitioners, they offer protection to those who request them. © MCC/ CMC, Frank Wimart.

Mauro Peressini is walking, most respectfully, through the rooms of the Canadian Museum of Civilization that, come November 15, will be filled with sacred Haitian voodoo objects.

On this particular day, with many of the 300 artifacts still to be installed in the 15-month-long exhibition, the rooms are largely bare, except for a few man-sized scary figures called lwas. These are the voodoo spirits that can, according to adherents of the religion, enter people and take control.

These lwas have been deconsecrated by voodoo priests or priestesses. But they are far from simply inanimate objects. They are, for example, deliberately not being put into glass display cases. That would be disrespectful.

As well, these lwas still supposedly have the potential to cause people to go into a trance, not unlike evangelical Christians who claim they are visited by the Holy Spirit and, in a trance-like state, start twitching, fainting, and speaking gibberish or, what is often called, “speaking in tongues.”

Peressini, the lead curator for Vodou, says museum staff have been trained in how to deal with anyone who suddenly falls under the spell of a lwa in the exhibition. Such people are to be held closely and carefully guided to a seated position on a chair until the trance passes.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Paul Gessell

Head of man with a headdress. This modeled head may depict Kan B’alam II, one of Palenque’s rulers during the late 7th century CE. Late Classic Period (600-900 CE). Photo ©CONACULTA.-INAH.-MEX. Jorge Vertiz 2011.

Every day by 11 a.m., the parking lot at the magnificent Mayan archeological site at Chichen Itza, Mexico, is filled with busloads of tourists, many of them Canadian, from the rows of highrise hotels at the Yucatan beach resorts of Playa del Carmen and Cancun.

That huge wave of sunburned humanity that descends every day at Chichen Itza and other Mayan sites, such as Palanque and Tulum, are so huge and overwhelming that it becomes difficult to enjoy the 1,500-year-old pyramids, temples, ball courts, and other structures that should leave you in awe. But it is difficult to be awed when camera-clicking tourists speaking a dozen languages keep stepping on your toes and blocking your camera angles.

The enjoyment of these archeological sites is further diminished by the endless souvenir stands scattered throughout the ruins selling T-shirts, onyx chess sets, and “genuine” Mayan artifacts.

Strangely, many of Mexico’s Mayan sites lack adjoining museums of any note to display the sculptures, pottery, jewellery, and other artifacts that have been found at these sites. Those are usually stored in museums in faraway Mexico City or other urban centres.

So, if you have visited these Mayan sites and left disappointed, there is a solution right at home. The Canadian Museum of Civilization has just opened an exhibition titled Maya: Secrets of Their Ancient World. Frankly, your will see more artifacts up close at the museum than you will encounter at the actual archeological sites, although Civilization can not boast a steep pyramid to climb, a ball court to test your athleticism, or “genuine” Mayan souvenirs made in China.

Read the rest of this entry »