In Springtime, in Springtime…

…or at least it’s supposed to be. We might drown before it feels like it, though. On May 19th, we’ll be hosting a steampunk-themed event here at the museum in honour of International Museum’s Day. I can’t think of anything more suitable to be doing on Queen Victoria’s birthday. It has, however, come to my attention that although one specific demographic in the Valley knows what steampunk is, there are other groups who don’t. Let me enlighten you: Steampunk mixes science fiction, fantasy, history, and speculative fiction and focuses on Victorian and Edwardian era Britain and the "Wild West"-era in the United States. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians might have envisioned them, based on a Victorian/Edwardian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style and art and technology that includes such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne’s books. This along the lines of what you would have read (or seen in the many movie renditions of- ) Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth and you’ve got the picture. Or use Google Images to look the term up! We’re hoping to spark your imagination with this event. History doesn’t necessarily have to be staid and stuffy, it can be bent out of shape to be the SCA or steampunk, too. Events like these give us an opportunity to practice skills transmission. If it were not for events like this, we wouldn’t catch the attanetion of many members of the younger generation, who oftentimes come out of curiosity, and then find something that they can take and run with. To that effect, we’ve taught a number of people things such as rope making, beading techniques, weaving of many kinds, knitting stitches, crochet and even some lace making (not the easiest thing in the world). As the Museum grows and becomes more involved as an interpretive centre, we will be focusing more on this type of skills transmission. We are working on programming such as plant dyeing with natural fibers and spinning, and we are hoping to find other skills that you would want to learn or teach. Please contact us if you feel that you would like to participate in any of our programming – as a visitor or an instructor!