Trail Swag Reports: Canoe Exhibit at the Canada Science & Technology Museum

We visited the Canoe exhibit at the Canada Science & Technology Museum in Ottawa this weekend and were blown away with how great it was! Canoes: The Shape of Success is a great way to introduce people to a bite-sized chunk of Canadiana and canoes.

Rice Lake Canoe Company order book (1887-1906)

The exhibit traces the iconic Canadian canoe's history starting from line drawings and the tools used to craft the canoes, to order books used to sell them.

Catalogue Cover from the Rice Lake Canoe Company (1900)

As the canoe industry started to thrive, catalogues were made to show off the handiwork of local craftsmen. Gradually the canoe began to become an international icon, and was included on stamps, coins, artwork and other Canadian imagery, all shown in the exhibit.

 Each part of the exhibit is interactive with plenty of interesting information, much of it from Ontario.

Early canoe construction techniques are wonderfully displayed in conjunction with audio recordings describing the process.

There were interactive things to do for all ages, including a canoe you could hop in to, games to learn the different parts of a canoe, a computer game to build your own canoe, and videos of popular canoe references in TV shows and movies. 

My favourite part of the exhibit was a tribute to canoeist, author and filmmaker, Bill Mason. His Eastman-Kodak 16mm camera was on display alongside reels of tape, editing tools and storyboards.

The Canadian Science and Technology Museum is at 1867 St Laurent Blvd in Ottawa. Ticket pricing can be found on their website.