7 Nova Scotian Virtual Tours and Exhibits You Should Visit

Though March Break is quickly approaching, there’s no doubt that this year will be vastly different than those in the past. Barely over a year since Nova Scotia and the rest of the world entered lockdown, museums and public history has changed drastically too.

Many museums nowadays feature part of their collection or exhibits online for viewers to experience. Virtual tours are becoming more popular. And with that development, we can experience an array of history from our homes.

But have you been wondering which museums in Nova Scotia offer virtual tours?

Or where can you visit virtually to feel as though you’re immersed in an exhibit?

And are there any museums in Nova Scotia that have already created online experiences?

While Nova Scotians and those in the Maritimes are lucky to live in a region with low COVID-19 cases, we are also fortunate to have an array of online virtual tours and exhibits accessible available online. Though many museums feature part of their collection online, today’s post will focus exclusively on virtual tours and exhibits.

What do I mean by this?

When referencing a virtual tour here, it is defined as an online simulation of the physical exhibit where the visitor can move throughout the space.

On the other hand, a virtual exhibit is typically made for the digital world. This means that it may not simulate walking through a real life exhibit but could consist of click menus, videos, audio, or other medias/formats.

Below I have listed seven virtual tours and exhibits that museums, galleries, and organizations have worked hard to create. These are at home experiences for those near and far to learn more about Nova Scotian history!

1. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia holds over 10 000 pieces in their collection from artists across the Maritimes. Many of these are featured onsite at their Halifax or Yarmouth location. With such a large collection, there is a variety of art to explore.

Luckily some of the Gallery’s most popular exhibitions can be virtually visited on their website.

Uploaded tours include: Good Earth: The Pots & Passion of alter Ostrom, Ned Pratt: One Wave, Maud Lewis Gallery, and the North Gallery (Shifting Ground, Monkman, Johnson & Bennett’s works).

Once the visitor clicks the “play” button on the exhibition they would like to view, a floorplan of the gallery shows up. You are then zoomed into the museum to a first person perspective. While touring the museum online, the visitor can click circles on the floor to move their position. Hovering your mouse over artifacts provides a description about each object.

You can learn more about visiting the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in person here.

2. Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia

The Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia is located in Cherrybrook, Nova Scotia. The Centre features the stories of African Nova Scotians and their histories.

With an incredible space to house their collection, it is amazing to be able to access it online.

Much like the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia provides first person perspective tours. The museum takes a slightly different approach and instead starts the tour at the front door. The visitor can then click arrows on the floor to move through the museum.

Alternatively, each exhibition is listed on the bottom of the screen. By clicking a certain exhibition, you can jump to that virtual room.

This tour and others have been made possible through the Nova Scotia Heritage 3D project, developed by the Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia. Though these tours do not always have spots for your mouse to hover over objects and read or listen to more about them, it is nice to feel as though you are truly walking through the museum.

3. The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to immigrate to Canada through Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia? The museum takes a different approach and has built an app designed for the user to experience what it may have been like to arrive to Canada through the port.

The app can be downloaded through both the Apple App and Google Play stores for free.

4. Africville Museum

Africville, a community in the North End of Halifax, was the target of racist demolitions. It was destroyed in the 1960’s. Residents were removed despite families having lived on the land for generations. The flattening of Africville is a clear example of racism in Nova Scotia. More can be learnt about the community’s story at the museum and on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

The Africville Museum is also featured on the Nova Scotia Heritage 3D project. As it was developed the same way as the Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia tour, the same formatting of clicking and following arrows through the museum is used.

The exterior of the Africville Museum can also be viewed. The recreation of the community’s church now houses the museum.

5. Gold: A Nova Scotia Treasure

To be honest, I didn’t expect to find an exhibit about gold in Nova Scotia online.

This exhibit is hosted by the Virtual Museum of Canada and follows a different format than some of the previous listings. While there is no virtual tour or physical space filmed to view, instead there is a menu. The visitor can click through the different sections of the exhibit to learn more about a specific topic.

There are four different themes that you can click to start: Gold Mining, Gold in Nature, Gold in Society, and Gold in Art.

NOTE: As of June 30, 2021 the Virtual Museum is rebranding to the Digital Museums Canada. Due to this, exhibits on virtualmuseum.ca may not be available after that date.

6. Céilidh air Cheap Breatunn

Gaelic culture is integral to Nova Scotia’s identity. Present in Cape Breton for over 200 years, Scottish Highlanders have preserved this history for generations. This exhibition Céilidh air Cheap Breatunn from the Highland Village Museum/An Clachan Gàidhealach invites its visitors to a céilidh to celebrate Gaelic culture through history, dancing, music and story telling – all virtually.

As part of the Virtual Museum, the formatting for this exhibit is based on click menus.

7. The Trace Fossil Mystery

Have you always wanted to go on a dino dig? Or find out exactly how species lived thousands of years ago? With a similar click to read formatting, the fossil mystery from the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History provides lots of fun. Check out the online exhibit to explore fossils from the East Coast.

So, what do you think?

It’s exciting to see more museum content added online. Making the collection and exhibits virtually available makes history more accessible for people of different backgrounds.

Which virtual tour are you most excited to visit?

What’s your favourite online collection or exhibition?

Let me know in the comments below!