Experience Québec
Museum boutiques
Unsuspected treasures… or the “art” of giving!
Coming home from vacation also means distributing the little gifts we’ve purchased for our loved ones. Museums exhibit artistic trends reflecting every horizon. What’s more, they are home to enticing shops that are brimming with unusual items, original sculptures, specialized works or even gadgets you can give. Gift ideas to satisfy every taste and every budget. Are you ready? Let’s go shopping!
After writing, my second favourite thing to do shopping; window shopping is an ongoing recreational activity that provides great comfort during lean times, whereas enjoying the real deal is an intoxicating pursuit on more prosperous days. Because we’re always looking without really looking, the advice of someone with a “BA in Shopping” is beyond helpful, especially when time is of the essence and the words “bring us back a souvenir!” keep ringing in your ears. Overlooked by even the “natives,” museum shops appear like a beacon in the night when it’s time to do some last-minute shopping.
Treasure hunt
Museums hold humanity’s treasures—that’s a well-known fact! But what do you know about their shops? They offer an extraordinary adventure. In addition to catalogues, posters and products reflecting the establishments’ exhibitions, museum shops are often filled with gifts and souvenirs bearing the tag “Made in Québec”!Archaeology and innovative items
Turning the old into something new? Well, not quite! The shop at Pointe-à-Callière is located in an old customs house dating back to 1837. This building is one of the first architectural signs of the presence of the British Empire in Montréal. The shop offers reproductions of pottery from New France, old maps and Native works of art. It also has a rich collection of objects created by artists from Québec and elsewhere. The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is, in a word, contemporary. Reflecting the boundless creativity that characterizes the MAC, the museum’s shop presents a vast selection of original, boldly designed items and amusing, colourful gadgets. Without a doubt, it’s geared to please those who seek the avant-garde and out of the ordinary.
Scientific and magnifique
Do you know a little Albert with a passion relative to Einstein? The perfect gift for your young bookworm is out there! Entomology? Astronomy? Zoology? Ecology? Whatever the field, you’ll find something at one of Montréal’s living museums: edible-insect lollipops from the Insectarium, a planet almanac from the Planetarium or even an orchid from the Botanical Garden. You want even more? Try poking about the Neurons Gift Shop at the Science Centre, a veritable paradise for nerds! Head up to Québec City, to the Parc Aquarium, where you’ll be sure to find the “intelligent” present your brainiac expects. Science has never been so “gifted!”
The “art” of giving
Beyond the MAC, other major museums dedicated to the visual arts also offer appealing, interesting items. Art books and artist reproductions fill the windows of many establishments, such as the Canadian Centre for Architecture, which boasts one of the best bookstores in Canada in this discipline
Major museums also offer products echoing their exhibitions, ranging from bookmarks to silk squares and a host of accessories of every kind, such as jewellery, sculptures or ceramics inspired by permanent or temporary collections and made by local craftspeople.Go ahead… treat yourself to something authentic. A visit to Québec’s museum shops is an essential stop before making your way back home.
| « C'est les soldes? » |
MONTRÉAL
QUÉBEC
GATINEAU
TROIS-RIVIÈRES
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André Quenneville
2009-07-23
