Mosaika In Depth

Mosaika takes the audience on an unforgettable journey of sound and light, exploring Canadian landscapes, our founding peoples, our achievements and values.

Here, we invite you to go in-depth to discover some of the stories behind the sites, sounds and multimedia magic that make up this one-of-a-kind show.

The Arts and Achievements of Canada’s First Nations Peoples

Canada’s First Nations peoples created an amazing wealth of artistic traditions and achievements. In Act 1 of Mosaika, we see some of these unique accomplishments, including items decorated with quillwork embroidery. This tradition uses porcupine quills, which are dyed, shaped and sewn to decorate items such as clothing, bags and baskets.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization has an online exhibit, entitled “Moccasins,” featuring numerous examples of how porcupine quillwork was used to beautify the Aboriginal footwear of the Northern Plains.

Porcupine quillwork can also be found on the mace used by the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

Porcupine Quillwork

Canada′s Railway Hotels

Canada′s railroad helped to unite the country, encouraged settlement and allowed Canadians to visit the vast lands they call home. The railway hotels were constructed to take advantage of a new phenomenon — tourism — and have since become icons of the cities and towns in which they were built.

Those featured in Mosaika include:

  • The Lord Nelson, Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • The Algonquin, St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, New Brunswick
  • The Château Frontenac, Québec, Quebec
  • The Château Laurier, Ottawa, Ontario
  • The Royal York, Toronto, Ontario
  • The Fort Garry, Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • The Bessborough, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • The Macdonald, Edmonton, Alberta
  • The Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia

The Canada Science and Technology Museum showcases items from Canadian railway history, and provides insights into how the railway contributed to the development of Canada.

Hotels projected onto the Parliament building

A Mosaic of Landscapes

Canada is made up of an incredible mosaic of natural landscapes — forests, mountains, tundra, Arctic, prairies, lakes, rivers, oceans and wetlands. In the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, there is even a desert-like environment that is so warm it is home to Canada′s only banana plantation.

Natural Resources Canada has an online photo collection that presents the extraordinary diversity of Canadian landscapes.

Landscapes