This exhibition is in fabrication
Clearly we hadn’t got our display units sorted out yet.
The last time I blogged about our upcoming travelling exhibition, Decoding E-Money, I described the process we went through in order to choose a name. We were a little late in getting that blog out, so plenty had already happened on the interpretational planning front by then. But reading about exhibition content spreadsheets and artifact tombstone labels really is a big snore. So this time I thought I’d wait until we had something more exciting and concrete to show you: actual prototypes, finalized designs—that sort of thing.
And now I do.
Our map of payment system routes was one of the most difficult areas of interpretation in the whole exhibition.
The heart of the exhibition is the cryptocurrency zone, a semi-immersive and rich visual area.
The fun and easy quiz feature will provide a break and a place to sit.
But just before I take that leap, let’s talk content. This has been an extremely challenging exhibition to develop. We are taking, for us, the unprecedented step of interpreting something that is not only current but continually changing. We do feature over 60 historical artifacts, nevertheless this time the interpretation of history was a relative piece of cake. Interpreting the present or even the recent past, however, was anything but. The subject matter is often in a state of flux where nothing is cut and dried and much is open to dispute.
Where does the money go when you pay with a debit card? Or how do we describe the highly complicated steps of processing a Bitcoin transaction? Luckily we have an office tower full of financial experts on hand and we’ve been gratefully relying upon them to help us get the content right. Though very happy to help, it was a little like the economists and analysts spoke Finnish and we spoke Hindi. It took all sorts of meetings and about a square kilometre of whiteboard space before we got all the content to a satisfactory place. That place is somewhere between the comprehension level of a clever 12 year-old and that of a central bank economist—thankfully closer to the former.
Thirty taped-together sections made up this mock-up of a final panel design.
The external panels of the cryptocurrency zone evoke high speed data transfer and interconnectedness.
The quiz station in its mid-construction phase at the fabricator’s workshop.
And now we have someplace to put all this content. In consultation with our own designers, the exhibition development team has been working hard to produce a presentation whose visual character and immersive qualities reflect the frenetic and high-tech world of electronic money transfer. Much of the content will be available via touch panels. This is not only the natural choice to reflect the modernity of the material, but crucial when working with content that can and will change over the life of the exhibition. It’s just a whole lot simpler to change text on a computer than on a printed panel.
Tracing the roots of e-money on a late version of our hands on history timeline.
The Bitcoin mining simulation game. It’s just too difficult to explain what that is so you’ll have to come to the exhibition.
Some of the interactive systems are fully functional; some are still in the paper and tape stages. The big display units are nearly ready and most of their winking lights and animated projections are operative. It’s pretty exciting and looks great. Over the next few weeks we will have a fully functioning exhibition ready for final testing and tweaking. Stay in touch.
Who didn’t want a Lite-Brite© when they were kids? The exhibition title is a moving LED text light.
We want to hear from you! Do you have an idea for a blog post you’d like to see?
Content type(s):
Blog posts
The Museum Blog
June 16, 2022
In 1812, British North America had no banks and little currency. With the prospect of war drying up supplies of coins, the government of Lower Canada decided to issue legal tender notes called “army bills” to pay for troops and supplies.
Army bills: Funding the War of 1812
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
Economy,
History
May 5, 2022
What was proposed was a complete about-face from the philosophy behind recent security printing. If photocopiers could easily deal with the colours and designs of the current series, then the next series should be bold and simple.
Between tradition and technology
By: Graham Iddon
Content type(s):
Blog posts
April 21, 2022
From windmills and solar panels to electric cars, signs of the green economy are all around us. Check out our resources for how to teach about the green economy.
Teaching the green economy
By: Adam Young
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
Business and careers,
Economy,
Geography,
Science,
Social studies
Grade level(s):
Grade 07 / Secondary 1,
Grade 08 / Secondary 2,
Grade 09 / Secondary 3,
Grade 10 / Secondary 4,
Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
April 4, 2022
Introduce important financial skills to your children, and help them plan for their futures with free resources from the Bank of Canada Museum and others.
Talk to your kids about money
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
Financial literacy
Grade level(s):
Early childhood / Kindergarten,
Grade 01,
Grade 02,
Grade 03,
Grade 04,
Grade 05,
Grade 06,
Grade 07 / Secondary 1,
Grade 08 / Secondary 2,
Grade 09 / Secondary 3,
Grade 10 / Secondary 4,
Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
March 3, 2022
COVID-19 has had an unprecedented effect on the economy: closing businesses, driving down demand and interrupting supplies. With news stories and popular culture addressing inflation and supply chain issues, now is the perfect time to explain this key economic concept to your high school students.
Teaching inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
Economy
Grade level(s):
Grade 09 / Secondary 3,
Grade 10 / Secondary 4,
Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
February 3, 2022
Few of us have ever met her, and it’s likely none of us are even remotely related to her. Yet, Canadians have carried her picture in their wallets for generations now. She’s Queen Elizabeth II and has been our monarch for over 70 years.
Queen of the bank notes
By: Graham Iddon
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
History
December 22, 2021
The Bank of Canada Museum is responsible for the National Currency Collection, and part of its mandate is to foster and develop that collection. Despite the challenges of collecting during a pandemic, curators at the Bank of Canada Museum have acquired some unique artifacts—including some that document the pandemic itself.
New acquisitions–2021 edition
By: David Bergeron
Content type(s):
Blog posts
