More than 250,000 people enjoyed the Museum’s flashback to the 1960s
Gatineau, Quebec, December 9, 2005 — More than a quarter of a million people visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization’s exhibition, Cool ’60s Design. The exhibition of Canadian craft and design from the 1960s was a 10-month flashback to one of the most creative periods in Canadian history.
From February 25 to November 27, 2005 the retrospective showed how the changes that transformed Canada during the decade profoundly influenced the design of consumer goods and crafts, as well as the decade’s sounds of music by Canadians such as Neil Young, Mo Kaufman, The Guess Who and Anne Murray, to mention only a few. Many of the 250,930 people who visited Cool ’60s left comments on flower-shaped sticky notes in the exhibition. Visitor wrote comments such as : “It was super cool! I really liked the 60s exhibition. It was funky!” or “Amazing exhibit! Took me back…” Still others remarked that the exhibition resonated with them personally: “My life is now in a museum! Wow.” Or, “I truly enjoyed the 60s exhibit which was very emotional and nostalgic for me. Thank you for that!”
Dr. Victor Rabinovitch, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation has fond memories of the exhibition and the decade it looked at. “It was an exciting time in many ways. Canada was bursting with optimism and confidence and that showed not only in the objects we put on display in Cool ’60s Design but in the atmosphere and design of the exhibition," said Dr. Rabinovitch. "It’s clear from their comments that our visitors came away with a real feeling for the era and a strong impression of what the country was like.”
For those who wish to keep revisiting that optimistic and inspiring decade, the Museum has reassembled a group of 11 sculptures entitled Personnages that was created by sculptor Louis Archambault for the Canada Pavilion at Expo 67. The sculptures languished for nearly forty years outside a government building in Ottawa’s east end until their recent rediscovery by Alan Elder, curator of the ’60s exhibition at the Museum. The restored sculptures, ranging in size from one to four metres high, will remain on display for several years behind the Museum, on the lawn facing the Ottawa River.
Media Information:
Chief, Media Relations
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: (819) 776-7167
Fax: (819) 776-7187
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