Two days ago, my family and I visited a spectacular museum in Quebec City, the Musee du Civilization. It is located in a district that was new to me until this trip, the Vieux-Ports down at the edge of the St. Lawrence River, just below the old city.
Unlike most museums, the subject of the Musee is nothing less than civilization itself. Our visit began with an exhibit on the history of gold. My wife particularly enjoyed this, but it was remarkable to see so many different objects that humankind has fashioned out of this metal: jewelry, weapons, mirrors, breast plates (really!) and all kinds of figurines.
Next, we moved on to Urbanopolis, an interactive exhibit that is about cities: past, present and notably, future. You know you are in the right place when the first encounter is with film clips from Metropolis and Blade Runner, arguably among the greatest hits of urban dystopia movies. Nearby, we got to see visions from urban planners of the future of many cities, including Quebec City (mais oui), New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The rendering of Manhattan was particularly poignant, as there were a series of frames that showed what happens to Manhattan when the waters rise -- that is, hello, Venice East! The rest of the exhibit was equally stimulating and explored the many steps that are being considered to retrofit our cities into more eco-friendly and sustainable landscapes.
Even lunch was a big hit with our family. We had choices among paninis, soup, pizza and salads that were both tasty and offered good value for currency pinched Americans like ourselves. Who says that the government's fiscal and dollar policies don't affect everyday citizens?
In a grand finale, we saved the best for last. The exterior of the museum itself has a remarkable exhibit called Le Potager des Visionnaires, or, The Visionaries Garden. This exhibit is hard to describe, but its look and feel grabbed us even on our first night in the city. Amid a pouring rain, we saw a melange of mystic purples and lime greens reflecting upon an ascending pattern that rose from street level up several stories. Alas, I didn't capture that scene in my camera, but I do have a few from the daytime when we went.
Here is a title slide, that shows a few of the many ascending rows of live plants that comprised the exhibit. Think carrots, broccoli, spinach, basil and a cornucopia of flowers.
Here is a picture of the metal sculpture that overhung the exhibit:
Greeting visitors from the street is this signature sculpture:
This concluded a memorable visit to the Musee. We went on to walk the surrounding streets, notably St. Andre, but the museum was the highlight of our day.