The National Museum of Australia

The Royal Ontario Museum

The Rushmore Memorial

The Black Hills of South Dakota, the USA, are famous for the beauty of their nature. Here the Sioux Indians once lived. Here was the scene of the famous Black Hills gold rush and here, in modern times, stands the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Its construction began in 1925. One famous American sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, was commissioned to carve on the Mount Rushmore the heads of the US Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Borglum was famous for his huge statues. But even for him this memorial was a challenge.

This tremendous work was, of course, difficult and dangerous, especially in the cold weather. It took 14 years to complete and was almost finished in 1941, when Borglum died. The sculptor's son Lincoln Borglum completed his father's work.

Finally, in 1941 the memorial was opened to the public. People were amazed. The gigantic heads, carved out of the granite of the mountain and visible for over 80 km, were 18 meters high, proportionate to a man of 145 meter high. The faces of the Presidents looked so real. They were the largest carved figures in the world.

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is now an important point of interest that is visited by thousands every year.

It is Canada's largest Public Museum. Opened in 1914, the museum today attracts more than million visitors a year.

Among the museum's impressive holdings, which number more than 6 milliom objects and specimens, there are also: the Roman gallery, housing the country's most expensive collection of antiquities; famous Dinosaur gallery, with a mastodon, stegosaurus, and other prehistoric creatures in jingle settings; a Textile collection with costumes and richly patterned fabrics; and the Chinese collection with 800 pieces displayed in traditional room settings and special gallery areas.

Of particular note there are: the giant stone camels and guardian figures of the Ming Tomb and the only Chinese tomb in the western world. There are also galleries devoted to artefacts of both Ontario and Canada.

It is "an ever-changing reflection of the ever-changing nation". It uses natural history as a foundation for narrating of human interaction and of the nation itself. The museum first opened its doors to.the public in March 2001. Today it is a living, dynamic and futuristic museum.

Located in Canberra, on the Acton Peninsula, in the suburb of Acton, the museum holds many significant collections relating to each of its 3 primary subject areas: land, nation and people. It comprises several permanent exhibitions. "The First Australians" is the largest of them. It not only does look forward and embrace contemporary themes, it places great importance on revealing the past.

The museum also includes 80 000 stone tools, Australia's largest collection of bark paintings comprising 1600 works by numerous artists, spanning 2 centuries.

The Australian museum attracts a wide audience of both adults and children of all ages. For its every visitor, there is something to remember, the chance to experience what Australia used to be and what it is now.

Being both contemporary and attractive, the museum plays an important role in the life — long learning of this country. It is recognized for its popular and unconventional approach to social history, as well as for its key role in generating important cultural and historical debates about this nation.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29