Canada

During its heyday around 1870, Barkerville was the biggest city west of Chicago and north of San Francisco.... As early as 1858, the gold fever lured numerous soldiers of fortune into the country. Billy Barker, a deserted seaman, who gave the name to the city, arrived in 1862. He blew 600,000 dollar that he could claim from banks and eventually ended up in a pauper’s grave. As the resources were exhausted in 1875, the city emptied quickly and became an almost abandoned ghost town. 1958 it was declared Barkerville National Historic Park. By now, about 100 buildings have been restored or reconstructed. The historical museum is located right at the entrance of the park. Everywhere, costumed villagers convey a lively picture of those turbulent days. The Theatre Royal stages a show about the gold digger’s time and an actor plays in the legendary judge Begbic in the Richfield courthouse. Armed with a gold pan, the visitors themselves have the opportunity to try their luck as gold diggers. more

On four floors, the museum in the heart of Vancouver keeps about 9,000 historic and contemporary works... within its over one-hundred-year-old walls. Paintings, photos and videos of Canadian artists from British Columbia – e.g. Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace, Stan Douglas and Rodney Graham – are the focus of the permanent exhibition, which is completed by the works of international artists, especially from the field of video art. The world’s largest collection of the work of the Canadian landscape painter Emily Carr is the highlight of the house. more

The settlement of the Gitksan, indigenous people who used to live on salmon fishing and trade, was rebuilt... as an open-air museum on the area of the historic village Giranmmax. You can view the typical longhouses whose carved facades are aligned facing the river, totem poles, a smoke house as well as the museum. There are 600 artifacts displayed that are used for ceremonial acts or daily use. These are for example masks, hunting weapons and fishing equipment, tools as well as ritually used objects of the shamans. In summer, films and theater productions are shown. In the museum's gift shop you can buy books as well as native-Canadian artwork, produced in the on-site ateliers. more