Royal Alberta Museum
Natural History and Human History galleries, Edmonton, Canada
The Human History Gallery is structured so that the visitor travels through a loose timeline. Upon entering the gallery, the visitor sees a series of rear illuminated murals that create a central orienting feature. Stories are revealed using objects from the collection and supported by hands-on and AV interactives. Galleries that highlight First Nation stories use a similar color palette within circular spaces. World Views, the Generations Circle and Manitou Stone use the collection to introduce the First Nations cultures and immersive media allows visitors to hear First Nations voices. The Manitou Stone gallery holds a meteorite sacred to Alberta First Nations at the center of a 360 degree mural of its original site, enabling access to those who wish to honour it.
An indigenous advisory panel, made up of 24 people was consulted during the design process. The panel included representatives of Treaty 6, whose traditional land the museum is situated on, and who came together shortly after the new museum project was announced.
The Natural History gallery is divided into two core content areas: Wild Alberta, which displays the flora and fauna of Alberta; and Changing Landscapes, which shows that Alberta's landscape, climate, plants and animals have all changed over millions of years and that the processes that drove those changes are still operating today. Adjacent to Changing Landscape, the Gems and Minerals gallery highlights the museum’s collection and the processes that have created these artifacts.
photos courtesy of Patrick Swindel and Carlin Wragg, RAA