Victorians are fortunate to be able to view Vikings: Lives Beyond the Legends, a travelling exhibit that opens in the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum today.
It鈥檚 also a reminder not to take for granted the privilege of having a world-class facility that can accommodate exhibits of this quality and scope. No other venue in British Columbia can match what is at our doorstep.
Much of our understanding of the past is distorted from being viewed through a movie camera lens. While many movies and TV shows strive for historical authenticity, accuracy is too often sacrificed to spectacle, fact gives way to drama.
The Viking age, from 750 to 1100 AD, has been the inspiration for countless books and films. Most portray the culture as consisting mainly of axe-wielding warriors, pillaging and raping wherever they went.
The exhibit at the RBCM adds much depth to that shallow view.
鈥淭he archeological sources show a much more complicated picture,鈥� says Kent Andersson of the Swedish History Museum, the producer of the show.
Few museums could accommodate the 8,000-square-foot Viking exhibit with its more than 500 artifacts and displays. It came here after showing at the Australian National Maritime Museum, and after its run here, it goes to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa.
More than a point of civic pride, the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum is a world-class portal to a deeper understanding of the past and the present.
