From the desk of Tim Willis, Director of Exhibitions and Visitor Experience
I remember the day that a rather nasty boy at school told me that Father Christmas (a.k.a. Santa) was not real. He went on to tell me about how babies were made, and if I hadn’t run away I do believe he would have told me that I’d been raised by wolves.
We have one of the finest mammoth replicas in the world. It stands in splendid isolation in an icy tundra landscape. A while ago a visitor to the museum asked ‘where did you shoot that mammoth?’ I hear the story repeated occasionally -usually in a tone that is a combination of incredulity and pride …how could they not know that mammoths are extinct… but then again, our mammoth is so life-like.
I remember the day that a rather nasty boy at school told me that Father Christmas (a.k.a. Santa) was not real. He went on to tell me about how babies were made, and if I hadn’t run away I do believe he would have told me that I’d been raised by wolves.
We have one of the finest mammoth replicas in the world. It stands in splendid isolation in an icy tundra landscape. A while ago a visitor to the museum asked ‘where did you shoot that mammoth?’ I hear the story repeated occasionally -usually in a tone that is a combination of incredulity and pride …how could they not know that mammoths are extinct… but then again, our mammoth is so life-like.
Woolly Mammoth at the Royal BC MuseumRecently I suggested that the interpretive signage in front of the diorama should indicate that the beast is fabricated. I was surprised by the response. ‘But you’ll spoil the illusion! Our visitors love to imagine they are seeing the real thing.”
I agree that the museum needs to be a place where every day existence fades into the background as one contemplates other times and places. But something niggles. Do we not owe the visitor the truth? We are, after all, a trusted voice of authority. Shouldn’t we be clear when something is not as it seems?
Forest diorama
Then again, where do you stop? Trees in our forest diorama are not real, nor are the buildings in our Old Town street scene. In fact, many museums with immersive settings rely on an element of theatre to convey the story. I should underline that our museum does display thousands of real objects. But the line between real and replica can be indistinct. Our forest diorama brilliantly blends real and replicated plants.
What do you think dear reader? Should we tell our visitors that the mammoth is a fibreglass and fur concoction – carefully researched indeed – but definitely not real?
P.S. Anyway, shouldn’t the question have been ‘why did you shoot that mammoth?”
Tim Willis
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