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Originally Posted by transplant99
I think the other thing I dont quite grasp is the "look at Paris" thing.
Paris is over 2000 years old and has a completely different culture than anywhere in North America never mind Calgary or Edmonton. Calgary is only 35 years older than my still living grandmother fer chrissakes. If I go to Paris, sure I want to see what they have, but when I get back to Calgary I dont want to see a bunch of stuff that was sculpted 9 years ago just because it was done locally.
This kind of stuff tends to form its own path and history and should not be force fed to anyone. Canadians will decide what Canadian culture is....not some government grants to build a nice place to show stuff from elsewhere, though i do understand the value in that as well, but importance to the majority of people? Not so much.
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I don't think anyone is expecting Calgary to turn into Paris. That will never happen. However, cultural spaces do have the power to transform in big ways.
Forget Paris, and look at Bilbao. An industrial city almost nobody had heard of till a Canadian came calling with his fancy museum. Now it's on a lot of people's must-see list whenever they are in Spain.
Personally, while tourism is great, I think it's the locals who tend to get the most value from a great museum. Some people mock school field trips to museums, but a trip to a place like the Tyrrell Museum can create memories for life. I know I was pretty blown away the first time I saw that place as a kid, and I'm proud that it's in Alberta. It's our best and most unique museum by far....