This text is part of the special Christmas book at the museum
The big gift that Espace pour la vie will give to Quebecers will not be unwrapped at Christmas. Construction work on the new Insectarium is progressing well and it will open in 2022 in a bright setting while remaining anchored in the heart of the Botanical Garden.
Between now and this long-awaited inauguration, the four other institutions forming Space for Life have been filling up with visitors since the end of confinement, while requiring the health passport. This does not spoil the pleasure when we see the enthusiasm for certain special activities, including the famous Gardens of Light last October.
With obvious excitement, the teams from the Biosphere, the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, the Biodôme and the Botanical Garden are preparing to welcome family customers during the holiday season. As with too many organizations, Christmas 2020 was hardly a gift, marked by restrictions and cancellations; a semblance of normality constitutes for them the most precious present.
Like the construction site surrounding the Olympic Park, Space for Life has also undergone major transformations, the most recent being the integration of the Biosphere into its fold. This new museum dedicated to environmental issues breathes new life into this iconic building by American architect Richard Buckminster Fuller. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn more about the place with the exhibition Echo 67, but in a time of climate change, they will come out better informed, especially in the face of the avalanche of statistics often worrying on the issue.
Before the Insectarium, the Biodôme also underwent its makeover, reopening its doors in the middle of a pandemic year. The place, always impressive, encompasses the five great ecosystems of North America. This glass arch, which still shows some traces of the old velodrome, is teeming with so much animal life. And residents will be treated to Christmas presents, while visitors can watch the unboxing!
Need an escape or a breath of fresh air the day after a well-watered dinner? The Botanical Garden offers this 12 months a year, and the Holidays are a good time to take refuge in the magnificent greenhouses – finally open after months of closure due to sanitary measures – or stroll in the various national gardens, whose beauty is transformed. from one season to another, especially that of China. Its popularity never falters.
You make me see stars
The solar system, the cosmos, the planets, the stars: it has been the daily life of the craftsmen of the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium since the days when it was located in downtown Montreal. Inaugurated in 1966, it then bore the name of a beer: Dow. If this surprises you, take a detour to the side of the exhibition which traces its foundation and presents its architecture, marked by the brutalist current of the time.
For children, it’s joy every day at this place, but on December 21, the euphoria will be at its peak according to Camille Janson-Marcheterre. For too long deprived of contact with young audiences, she is happy to find them again with the Feast of the winter solstice. After a successful first edition in 2019, finally “we can once again develop their creativity, make discoveries with them in a fun way, and offer them DIY activities which can then become very beautiful Christmas gifts”, according to the coordinator in scientific recreation of the Planetarium.
In addition to films that are already impressive, including Stellar journeys, Camille Janson-Marcheterre waits for the children to “make a sundial as well as a mobile of the solar system”, or become an astronomer. “Everything will depend on the weather, but during the day, under a clear sky and with our telescopes, it is possible to observe the sun. And since it’s the shortest day, kids will be able to scan the moon as well as planets as night falls. “
If that isn’t enough to quench your offspring’s thirst for curiosity, the place is full of shows for young audiences. (On board the SSE-4801) and educational activities, including the Aldebaran project. “Children put themselves in the shoes of scientists and space engineers by building a vehicle that explores the surface of Mars with the help of Lego Mindstorms”, emphasizes Camille Janson-Marcheterre. Like what it is possible to go far, very far, and this, very close to home.