The Rooms Corporation - Changing slate of dynamic, nationally travelled exhibits unveiled

NLIS 2
January 20, 2006
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

The following is being distributed at the request of The Rooms Corporation:

The Rooms unveils a changing slate of dynamic, nationally travelled exhibits

The Rooms today announced the opening dates for a series of dynamic new exhibits on display for the coming months. The new exhibits come from the McCord Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization � Canadian Children�s Museum. They showcase local and national visual artists, feature work from Group of Seven artist A.Y. Jackson, and tell the story of Moravian missionaries in Labrador.

"The Rooms is dedicated to offering a palate of ever-changing and dynamic exhibits, of interest to a wide variety of people," said Dean Brinton, CEO of The Rooms. "In the current exhibition schedule, we have the Siqiniq exhibit from the Canadian Children�s Museum - for school and youth groups; we have the Cities of Canada exhibit which has traveled internationally and features work from A.Y. Jackson, and we have the Labrador Through Moravian Eyes exhibit, which draws particular attention to the history of Labrador. This varied and exciting program demonstrates The Rooms ability to appeal to various groups, while speaking to them in unique and distinctive ways."

Several exhibits are currently on display at The Rooms, while others are slated to open in the coming weeks.

Mr. Brinton concluded: "We encourage the public to visit The Rooms again and again as our exhibits change, generally, on a quarterly basis. We continue to offer public exhibit openings, associated lectures, family-focused events and activities etc. as we strive to make The Rooms a place for people to gather, learn and discuss."

For more information, please visit www.therooms.ca or contact (709) 757-8000.

Media contact: Deanne Hayward, The Rooms, (709) 757-8070, 691-5681, deannehayward@therooms.ca

BACKGROUNDER
EXHIBIT SCHEDULE

The Rooms Provincial Archives

Distinguished Service: the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in the Great War
January 3 � March 1, 2006

This exhibit documents the lives and experiences of the province�s soldiers in the First World War, tracing the regiment�s involvement from enlistment and training in Newfoundland and the United Kingdom, to Gallipoli and the battlefields of Europe. Located on level three, the exhibit focuses on the World War I service records of the regiment, available at the archives on microfilm for the first time in this province. The exhibit also contains both originals and copies of photographs, documents, and maps from the Archives� collections.

The Rooms Provincial Museum

Siqiniq: Under the Same Sun
January 22 - June 28, 2006

On January 22, 2006, the Arctic comes alive for children at The Rooms. Siqiniq: Under The Same Sun presents the daily lives of two Inuit children from a small community in Nunavut, a territory in Canada�s Eastern Arctic. This fun, activity-packed exhibit encourages the spirit of discovery and intercultural understanding.

Family Fun Under the Same Sun, January 22, 2:00 � 4:00:

Bring the kids to enjoy this hands-on, interactive exhibit and while there they can:

1 Play Inuit games of skill and strength

2 Print their very own Arctic scene

3 Make a tapestry that tells a story

4 Taste a treat of bannock and jam.

Designed and produced by the Canadian Children�s Museum located in the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Siqiniq engages visitors in activities which give them a better understanding and appreciation of the similarities and differences between themselves and their young neighbours in the Arctic.

Labrador Through Moravian Eyes
February 11 � May 28, 2006

Missionaries from Eastern Europe arriving in Northern Labrador more than 250 years ago had a profound and lasting affect on the Inuit who converted to their faith. This exhibit uses Moravian reports, maps, paintings and photographs to show almost every aspect of life in the mission stations from their point of view.

The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery

Cities of Canada: the Seagram Collection
December 16 � April 24, 2006

Circulated by the McCord Museum, Montr�al, Qu�bec, and curated by Ihor Holubizky, Cities of Canada features 40 striking cityscapes commissioned by Samuel Bronfman as part of a groundbreaking art show which toured nationally and internationally in the early 1950s. Suggesting Canada's emerging presence on the post-war global scene, a variety of well-known artist including A.Y. Jackson, Charles Comfort, Frederick Taylor, William Goodridge Roberts and Walter Phillips offer a picture of Canada as an active, metropolitan and industrial country.

Beauty Queens
January 20 � May 1, 2006

Beauty Queens explores concepts of identity and cultural autonomy within the unique situation of island experience. Drawn from Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and Vancouver Island, as well as the international settings of Ireland, Hawaii, and Trinidad, this exhibition presents the work of 13 artists whose work emerges from and reflects upon their island settings. A joint project of The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, the exhibit is curated respectively by Bruce Johnson, Lisa Baldissera and Shauna McCabe. Featuring artists: Gerald Beaulieu, John G. Boehme, Gaye Chan, Christopher Cozier, Susan Dayal, Jim Hansen, Barb Hunt, Daniel Jewesbury, Melinda Morey, Wendy Nanan, Marianne Nicolson, Judith Scherer, Dan Shipsides

Public reception and opening:

Cities of Canada and Beauty Queens
Friday, January 20 at 8:00 pm at The Rooms
Performance starting at 7:30

Where Wonder, What Weight
February 3 � May 14, 2006

St. John�s artists Will Gill and Beth Oberholtzer join in a collaborative exhibition of sculpture and installation. Exploring intersections between the personal and the cultural, the artists explore subjects including human conflict, spirituality, sexual identity and the environment.

Public reception and opening:
Where Wonder, What Weight
Friday February 3 at 7:00 pm at The Rooms

Stages
January 3 � May 14, 2006

Preliminary sketches and paintings from the art gallery�s permanent collection reveal the metamorphic nature of the creative process. Artists include: David Blackwood, Rhoda Dawson, A.Y. Jackson, David Milne, Helen Parsons Shepherd, Rae Perlin, Christopher Pratt, Gerald Squires, Tony Urquhart and Don Wright.

2006 01 20 9:30 a.m.

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