November 10, 1998
(Executive Council)

Viking Millennium Touring Exhibit to highlight provincial millennium celebrations

The Viking Millennium Touring Exhibit will be a key component of the province's promotional strategy over the next two years, says Premier Brian Tobin.

The Viking Millennium Touring Exhibit will be a multi-media touring exhibit that profiles the Aboriginal and Viking Cultures which existed in the area of L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland around 1000 A.D. when Norse explorers established a settlement in the area. The announcement of a federal-provincial-international partnership to fund, develop and tour the exhibit was made in St. John's today.

"Newfoundland and Labrador is fortunate to have three major promotional opportunities within a four-year period which draw upon the extensive recent and ancient history of this province," the premier said. "In 1997 we celebrated the 500th anniversary of John Cabot's landfall in Newfoundland and Labrador, next year through Soiree '99 we will observe the 50th anniversary of our becoming the 10th province of Canada, and in the year 2000, we will not only welcome the dawning of a new millennium, but mark the 1,000th anniversary of the Viking landfall at L'Anse aux Meadows on the province's Northern Peninsula."

The premier noted that all of these events feature excellent promotional opportunities for the province, particularly the Viking Millennium touring exhibit, a project of the Newfoundland Museum which has been acclaimed by the Millennium Board of Canada as an anchor event for the nation's millennium celebrations.

"The Viking Millennium Exhibit Project showcases an exciting piece of our history, and one of world-wide significance," said Herb Gray, deputy prime minister and minister responsible for the Government of Canada's Millennium Initiative. "We are proud to partner with the Newfoundland Museum in this project, which will help contribute to a broader understanding of cultural interactions of the past and present, and encourage people from around the world to visit and learn more about L'Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site as the only authenticated Viking site in North America."

On November 10, Deputy Prime Minister Gray announced $252,000 for the exhibit under the Canada Millennium Partnership Program. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has committed $250,000. Support for the exhibit will also come from the Department of Canadian Heritage/Parks Canada, which will provide $145,000, with a further commitment of $100,000 U.S. from the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The Aboriginal-Viking encounter of 1000 A.D. is being hailed by historians and anthropologists as the "first contact" of the descendants of human beings who had taken different courses of exploration upon walking out of Africa 100,000 years before. The human ancestors who turned west eventually encountered the wall of the Atlantic Ocean, while those who turned east gradually populated what is now Asia, Russia, across the Bering Strait into North and South America.

Over many centuries, their descendants ultimately reached Newfoundland and Labrador where around 1000 A.D. they encountered the Viking descendants who established a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows after sailing from Iceland and Greenland.

"Further recognition of the importance of this project was received just a few days ago when we were advised that UNESCO has granted this exhibition full patronage status, underscoring the exhibit as an event of international significance," the premier said.

The high-calibre Full Circle exhibit will feature stunning Viking artifacts from museums of many countries, along with First Nations artifacts from the collections of the Newfoundland Museum and other Canadian institutions. The exhibit will also showcase state of the art interpretation technology and live animation.

It will serve as a major tourism draw during the summer of 2000, and will also create greater awareness of Newfoundland and Labrador's Aboriginal and Viking heritage, and the Viking heritage of many Nordic countries when the exhibit tours U.S. and Canadian cities.

The development of the exhibit will be overseen by the Newfoundland Museum, leading a core curatorial team drawing upon many nations and an array of international museum collections.

The exhibit is scheduled to open in St. John's in June of the year 2000, and then continue on to Corner Brook, after which time it is planned to continue as a touring exhibit to 10 venues in Canada and the United States, and five venues in the Nordic countries and Europe.

Media contact:

Doug Burgess                                                      Heidi Bonnell
Director of Communications                                   Director of Communications
Tourism, Culture and Recreation                             Premier's Office
(709) 729-0928                                             (709) 729-3564

1998 11 10                                   3:15 p.m.