Canadian Northern House

Today my husband and I went into the city to take in some of the special venues and art installations that are here for the Olympics. One of the things I really wanted to see was Canada's Northern House, which represents the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. This is a part of Canada I want to visit someday.

I took a ton of photos today and I decided that the best way to share them is with slide shows. This first one is the venue, animals and clothing.
*Don't forget to mouse over the slide show images to read the descriptions!

Part 2 is various art-sculptures made from stone or bone, paintings, baskets and the like.

And remember how I was explaining the other day about the Inukshuk? Well at Canada's Northern House, they had a display explaining the different kinds of stone symbols. Who knew there are actually five different configurations?

There were a couple places in the venue where you could record a message with images of the North playing as the backdrop and then email it to yourself. I did it twice, but so far it hasn't shown up in my email. I'm not sure if I did something wrong or if it just takes awhile to arrive. It was fun though! When I shot mine, I just gave a little rundown of the venue off the top of my head. When I was finished, the staff person who was running the booth told me what I did was really good and I should come work for Northern tourism. *laughs* Wouldn't it be fun to do PSA's? I'd love that! I always thought it would be cool to do voice-over work.

I am really glad this venue opened early, so I had the chance to see and appreciate it. It's an absolute gem. The people are incredibly nice and I was wowed by all the art. What I love best about Inuit art is the use of organic materials. They can take hard core mediums like stone or bone and using handmade tools, transform them into intricate figures. (As you can see, by some of the sculptures I've shown.) It's magical and I have an enourmous respect for them.

If you are thinking about which venues to visit, make sure this one is on your list. You really must see it for yourself!

I have tons more photos from today. I will share more in my next post. Stay tuned!