Take a break from the heat, take a journey to Antarctica at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria. Race To The End Of The Earth, curated by the American Museum of Natural History in New York in collaboration with the Royal BC Museum and the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, France, is this summer’s visiting featured exhibit.
As the only Canadian stop on the exhibit’s tour, this is the chance for locals to get a feel for the hardships experienced by the brave men involved in the race to the South Pole by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and British Navy Captain Robert F. Scott.
Race To The End Of The Earth features original artifacts and photographs from both expeditions, including one of
the Norwegian team’s sledges, Amundsen’s own binoculars and Scott’s personal goggles. Authentic re-creations of Scott’s hut at Cape Evans and the Norwegian party’s underground workrooms show what life in Antarctica was like for the teams as they prepared for their push to the Pole.
An emotional display recounts the British team’s final days. It includes the last letter by Scott to his friend and publisher Reginald Smith, written in the small tent in which he, Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers died on their return from the South Pole.
Computer interactive and hands-on educational activities let people explore how scientists live and work in Antarctica today, and what they are learning about the continent’s surprising sub-ice landscape, ocean currents and weather. The sledging pennant from British team member Cecil Meares, the dog handler in Scott’s party, is on display from the permanent collection of the Royal BC Museum. Meares retired to Victoria and his family bequeathed the pennant, his Polar Medal and other personal effects to the Museum.
Race To The End Of The Earth runs at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria until October 14, 2013.
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