Before we cover this week’s best bets, I’d like to remind everyone to come back to the City Diorama in a few days to read the post I’m working on about holiday shopping at Metro Vancouver museums. If you’re thinking about buying some really thoughtful gifts this year, you will definitely want to keep museums in mind. Now — onto your weekday activities and events:
- The Museum of Anthropology at UBC will be hosting another lecture in its series “Back to the Future: Three Talks on 21st Century Archaeology” on Tuesday, November 27th at 7pm. This week, Michael J. Griffin, a Ph.D. Candidate at Oxford University, will be giving a lecture called “Ancient Spaces in Virtual Reality: Archaeology, Video Games, and Reliving the Past.” MOA writes this about Michael’s talk: “Video games, virtual worlds, and 3-D cartoons are typically associated with Hollywood and interactive entertainment. But the technology behind such media is increasingly used to carry the past into the future, in the form of online realms that simulate historical environments. Michael Griffin surveys some of the most exciting related initiatives in education and cultural outreach, including the UBC Faculty of Arts Ancient Spaces project, focusing on Europe and the Americas.”
- There will also be a lecture at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Tuesday, November 27th at 7pm. William Wood, art historian and critic, will be speaking in connection with the exhibit Artist’s Choice: Roy Arden Selects From the Collection which is on display until January 6, 2008. William will be discussing “the legacies of photography, history painting and modernity.”
- David Paperny, President of Paperny Films will be visiting the West Vancouver Museum & Archives on Tuesday, November 27th at 7pm as part of the museum’s “Behind the Wire Speaker Series.” David will not only be speaking at this event, but will also be screening the documentary film Forced March to Freedom (2001), which is based on the book of the same name by Robert Buckham. David is the producer of this film, which “illustrates the experiences of Canadian air personnel imprisoned in German PoW camps during World War II.”
- Bloedel Floral Conservatory was closed during the Vancouver strike, and is now encouraging the public to visit by offering a “Welcome Back” deal until Friday, November 30th. Admission is $2 for adults and seniors and only $1 for children and youth.
- The UBC Botanical Garden’s Holiday Wreath Sale begins Wednesday, November 28th in the afternoon. I will write more about this event in my holiday shopping post, but I wanted to mention it now for the keeners who are looking for great handmade wreaths to hang for the start of December. The wreaths can be purchased at the Plant Centre inside the UBC Shop in the Garden. The sale runs to December 9th or until the wreaths are sold out.
- The Japanese Canadian National Museum’s Assistant Archivist, Reiko Tagami, will be discussing how to care for family photographs in connection with the museum’s exhibit Shashin: Japanese Canadian Studio Photography to 1942. Tagami will be speaking on Wednesday, November 28th at 2pm and again on Friday, November 30th at 7pm. The discussion will address “proper care for historical photographs and digital images, and will also share practical ideas and tips for safe storage, organization, and display of photographs.”
- Terry Watada will be reading from his new book Kuroshio: The Blood of Foxes at the Japanese Canadian National Museum on Wednesday, November 28th from 6-8pm. This event is being jointly sponsored by the JCNM and Arsenal Pulp Press. Admission is free and refreshments will be served.
- Brian Seward, MMM. CD, Rtd., 6 Field Engineer Squadron, North Vancouver, will be speaking at the West Vancouver Museum & Archives on Wednesday, November 28th from 7:00-8:30pm as part of the museum’s “Behind the Wire Speaker Series.” The topic of Seward’s talk is “Close to Home: Peace Keeping Missions Abroad.”
- Author and Journalist Heather Pringle will be speaking at the Vancouver Maritime Museum on Wednesday, November 28th at 7:30pm as part of the Underwater Archaeology Society of British Columbia Lectures for 2007. Pringle’s lecture is titled “Twice Unlucky: The Tale of the Auguste and the HMS Fantome,” which examines the plight of historic wrecks such as the Auguste and HMS Fantome in light of the province of Nova Scotia allowing treasure hunters to excavate these wrecks and keep most of the valuables they find. Admission to this talk is by donation.
- Heritage Christmas at Burnaby Village Museum continues this week. Please see my earlier post for more information about this holiday event.
