ROM brings its artifacts onto Google Art Project

ROM brings its artifacts onto Google Art Project

Over 300 artifacts from Museum’s collection available for digital visitors to enjoy

ROM collection launches on August 20, 2014

Museum galleries brought to life using Google Street View

 

TORONTO, August 20, 2014:  The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is making its collection available on the Google Art Project, creating a virtual experience that shares the Museum with visitors around the world. Included are over 300 of the ROM’s artifacts captured in extraordinary detail in more than 460 images that allow people to see objects in greater detail, virtually tour galleries and curate their own digital collections.   

The ROM’s Google Art contributions offer a taste of its vast collections with a particular focus on its iconic Canadian works such as Paul Kane’s Fishing by Torch Light.  One of the Museum’s best known pieces, the Death of General Wolfe which captures a pivotal moment in Canadian history, has been photographed in extraordinary detail using the “gigapixel” technology. Visitors can study in unprecedented detail the painting’s brushwork and patina.  In addition, visitors can use the Street View feature to tour the ROM’s Sigmund Samuel Gallery of Canada and the Daphne Cockwell Gallery of Canada selecting objects of interest and clicking on them to learn more.

Also featured are notable pieces from the Museum’s collections such as The Paradise of Maitreya wall-painting and the Kunti sculpture, commonly referred to as the Blue Lady.  The resolution of the digital images, combined with a custom-built zoom viewer, allows visitors to discover minute aspects of the artifacts that they may never have seen before.

“We’re delighted to share our collections and in particular artifacts from ROM Canada with a global audience of visitors in an interesting and interactive way. We hope that it inspires even more people, wherever they live, to explore the Museum – especially during our Centennial year – in new and amazing levels of detail,” said Janet Carding, the ROM’s Director and CEO.

The ROM’s contribution to Google Art Project is its second collaboration with Google. Last fall the ROM hosted an exhibition featuring the winning designs in its Canadian Doodle 4 Google contest which challenged students to design a logo for Google’s homepage.

The ROM’s Google Art Project is available at http://goo.gl/xII48y

 

About the ROM

The Royal Ontario Museum is an agency of the Government of Ontario. Opened in 1914, Canada’s largest museum of natural history and world cultures, has six million objects in its collections and galleries showcasing art, archaeology and natural science. The ROM is the largest field research institution in the country, and a world leader in research areas from biodiversity, palaeontology, and earth sciences to archaeology, ethnology and visual culture - originating new information towards a global understanding of historical and modern change in culture and environment. For 24-hour information in English and French, please call 416.586.8000 or visit the ROM’s web site at www.rom.on.ca.  Tickets are available online at www.rom.on.ca.

About Google Art Project

The Art Project is part of the Google Cultural Institute which is dedicated to creating technology that helps the cultural community to bring their art, archives, heritage sites and other material online. The aim is to increase the range and volume of material from the cultural world that is available for people to explore online and in doing so, democratise access to it and preserve it for future generations

ROM and Google Art Project links

·        ROM interior Street View in Google Maps  http://goo.gl/gwClXy

·        Google Art Project  http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project

·        Google Cultural Institute http://www.google.com/intl/en-GB/culturalinstitute/about/

·        World Wonders  http://www.google.com/intl/en/culturalinstitute/worldwonders/

·        Official Google Blog post about the launch of Google Art  http://googleblog.blogspot.ca/2011/02/explore-museums-and-great-works-of-art.html

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Contact

Amanda Fruci, Publicist

amandaf@rom.on.ca

416.586.5558

Wendy Vincent, Publicist

wendyv@rom.on.ca

416.586.5547