You can still catch the family laser show “A Brief Mystery of Time” at 1PM and 4PM on Saturday and Sunday through September 12th.

Evening laser shows will run Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through September 11th ONLY.

 The evening shows are:

Click here to buy your ticket online.

This rare opportunity will only be available during Nuit Blanche.

Filipino Youth in Action brings us this wonderful display of portraitures, replicas of documents, photographs, and oral histories surrounding the waves of Filipino migration to Winnipeg.

June 18 to September 26 in Festival Hall. Free for members.

A community exhibit by Aksyon Ng Ating Kabataan (ANAK), Inc.

The Manitoba Museum will become a Mecca of Manitoba music on July 1, complete with rare memorabilia, fascinating exhibits, vintage guitars, live entertainment – and even disco balls.

“It’s a celebration of all aspects of Manitoba music,” explains John Einarson. Einarson, one of Manitoba’s most noted and respected music historians, is the curator of Shakin’ All Over: The Manitoba Music Experience.

The exhibit is a multi-media celebration of music in our province over time. Each genre of music will have a semi-circular “pod” space allocated to it, in which you can view artifacts, learn history, and hear the music specific to that genre. The themes of the pods are: Country, Folk, Jazz, Classical & Opera, First Nations, Métis, Franco-Manitoban, Blues, Children & Family and Rock ‘n Roll.

“You follow your way through each of these nine pods, getting a sense of the tremendous amount of music that has come out of this province,” says Einarson.

The Country pod, for instance, features guitars from Winnipeg’s Linkon Pedal Steel Guitar company – the only Canadian business that manufactures such guitars. Country fans will enjoy viewing singer Cindi Cain’s famous stage outfits and boots, jackets from the Double Eagle Band, as well as posters, pictures, and other memorabilia.

In the Rock ‘n Roll pod, you can see bass guitars and gold records donated by Bachman Turner Overdrive’s Fred Turner, original Garnet amplifiers from the 1960s, and the door from the renowned Cellar night club of the same era.

Another show stopper? The gorgeous “bubble gum dress” from Transit of Venus, the first Manitoba Opera performance commissioned for main-stage production.

Einarson has also overseen the creation of a 70-seat stage area where visitors can experience Manitoba music first-hand. Check our website in early June for a list of performers.

Shakin’ All Over: The Manitoba Music Experience runs until Sept. 6.

 Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson, The Manitoba Museum’s Curator of Botany, has been studying the pollination ecology of native plants for several years.  Recently she documented the insects that pollinate the nationally rare Western Silvery Aster (Symphyotrichum sericeum) plant that grows in sandy, tall-grass prairies.  One of the things she discovered was how this rare plant, and other tall-grass prairie species, is connected to both crop plant pollinators and predators of crop pests.  Before and after crop plants flower, their pollinators rely on native plants to survive.  Although Western Silvery Aster is rare, it produces flowers at a time when most crop plants are going to seed, potentially providing much needed nectar to pollinating insects.  Canadian crop plants that benefit from wild pollinators like bumblebees and leaf-cutter bees include alfalfa, canola, flax and sunflower to name a few.

 Native plants may also help increase populations of insect predators of crop pests.  Bee fly larvae parasitize grasshopper eggs, Tachinid fly larvae parasitize the caterpillars of Fall Armyworms (Spodoptera frugiperda) and Corn Earworms (Helicoverpa zea), and Toxomerus larvae eat aphids.  The adults of these insects have been observed feeding on the nectar and pollen of native plants, including Western Silvery Aster.

 So how important might these insects be for crop production?  The annual economic value of ecological services, such as pollination and pest control, provided by wild insects was estimated to value $57 billion in the U.S. alone.  We know that these beneficial insects need wild prairies, hedgerows, shelterbelts and forests to live in, and yet the pressure to cultivate these areas continues to grow.  Ironically, more food can be probably be produced by cultivating less land, and even replanting some areas with native vegetation.  Recent research from Simon Fraser University suggests that leaving 30% of all land in an agroecosystem uncultivated to provide habitat for wild pollinators will maximize crop yields and profit for farmers.

“By pointing out the connections between beneficial insects and wild plants I’m hoping to encourage farmers and rural landowners to conserve those little patches of prairie and forest remaining on their property,” says Dr. Robson.  It turns out that what was once considered to be “waste land” may be very valuable after all.

Dr. Robson is involved in the Canadian Pollinator Initiative, which was started by scientists to increase pollinator research in Canada.  The Museum gratefully acknowledges the financial support of WWF-Canada, the Government of Canada, Manitoba Conservation and The Manitoba Museum Foundation Inc.

Tuesday to Friday       10:00 – 4:00

Saturday and Sunday 11:00 – 5:00

CLOSED MONDAYS

 Planetarium is closed for annual maintenance September 7 – 10 (daytime)

Laser shows are being held over for one more week!

Thursday, September 9          

British-N-Vasion @ 7:15pm

Laser Pink Floyd @ 8:30pm

 Laser Queen @ 9:45pm

Friday, September 10 

Laser Daft Punk @ 7:15pm

 British-N-Vasion @ 8:30pm

Laser Queen @ 9:45pm

 Laser Pink Floyd @ 11:00pm

 Saturday, September 11         

A Brief Mystery of Time @ 1:00 & 4:00 pm

Laser Daft Punk @ 7:15pm

British-N-Vasion @ 8:30pm

 Laser Queen @ 9:45pm

 Laser Pink Floyd @ 11:00pm

 Sunday, September 12           

A Brief Mystery of Time @ 1:00 & 4:00pm

These games are meant for all ages—the questions in the “I Spy” games and pictures in the Bingo games vary in complexity!”

Pick up your passport at Museum Reception for a guide to all the new family fun.

The Manitoba Museum is hosting a six-evening program on the basics of astronomy this fall. Eyes to the Skies will take participants on an in-depth tour of our night sky including constellations, planets, the Moon and much, much more.

Using images and video, hands-on demonstrations, handouts and the unique technology of the Planetarium Star Theatre, even the most beginner of stargazers will be able to navigate the night sky like a pro by the end of this course.

The fall session begins on Wednesday September 22^nd, 2010 and runs six consecutive Wednesdays until Oct. 27^th from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. nightly. For more information, contact instructor Mike Jensen at 988-0613 or mjensen@manitobamuseum.ca. The cost is $125 per person ($99 for Museum members). To register, please call 988-0626 or email programs@manitobamuseum.ca.

Temporary Exhibitions

Shakin’ All Over – The Manitoba Music Experience

This exhibit s a multi-media celebration of music in our province over time. Each genre of music has a semi-circular “pod” space allocated to it, in which you can view artifacts, learn history, and hear the music specific to that genre. The themes of the pods are: Country, Folk, Jazz, Classical & Opera, First Nations, Métis, Franco-Manitoban, Blues, Children & Family and Rock ‘n Roll.

FYI: Shakin’ All Over is located in the Alloway Exhibition Hall. Exhibit closes September 7, 2010. A modest ‘add-on’ fee applies to visitors, but is FREE for Museum Members.

From Manila to Manitoba

This community-based exhibit celebrates 50 Years with the Filipino-Canadian Community in Winnipeg. Filipino Youth in Action brings us this wonderful display of portraitures, replicas of documents, photographs, and oral histories surrounding the waves of Filipino migration to Winnipeg.

FYI: From Manila to Manitoba is located in the Fesitval Exhibition Hall. Exhibit closes September 27. There no extra fees to see this exhibit. Admission is included with any regular or bundled Museum Galleries, Science Gallery or Planetarium ticket.

Canadian Geographic Wildlife Photography of the year

This exhibition includes the winners of Canadian Geographic’s Canadian Wildlife Photography of the Year Contest. Thirty stunning photos of birds, mammals, insects and reptiles showcase the beauty, diversity, value and vulnerability of Canada’s wildlife

FYI: Canadian Geographic Wildlife Photography of the year is located in the Museum Galleries’ urban corridor. Exhibit closes September 7. There are no extra fees to see this exhibit. Admission is included with any regular or bundled Museum Galleries ticket.

Natural Wonders: a celebration of biodiversity

This colourful, fascinating exhibit that celebrates the beauty and diversity of nature with that showcases rarely-seen specimens from our Natural History vaults. Explore the wonder of the natural world through four different environments: oceans, forest, grasslands & deserts, and fresh water. A special display of beetles in gorgeous colours and unbelievable sizes is a must-see.

FYI: Natural Wonders is located in the Museum Galleries’ Discovery Room. Exhibit closes September 26. There are no extra fees to see this exhibit. Admission is included with any regular or bundled Museum Galleries ticket.

NEW permanent exhibitions

Lift yourself

This is a fun, hands-on basic science exhibit. Grab a seat, make yourself comfortable, and see how high you can pull yourself up using three different pulley system.  And then investigate why some chairs where easier to lift than others.

FYI: Lift Yourself is located in the Science Gallery. There are no extra fees to see this exhibit. Admission is included with any regular or bundled Science Gallery ticket.

Ancient Seas – Winner of Where Magazine’s Best Attraction for Summer 2010

Ancient Seas transports you back in time to an era when Churchill was covered by an Ordovician Sea, teeming with ancient marine creatures.

Projected in dramatic three-screen animation, Ancient Seas is the harbinger of a new age for the Museum. We are the first museum in Canada to feature this cutting-edge technology!

Click here to learn more

More fun in our Galleries

Throughout the Museum, we have added interpretive staff that will be ready to show you great  artifacts (that you can even touch), and answer any question. Get ready to explore!

In our Science Gallery the Explore Science Zone will be a hub of hands-on activities all about genetics. Youth and adults alike can learn and experiment while interacting with our knowledgeable team of science educators.