Media Quotes for Full Circle

'Full Circle: First Contact is an incredibly ambitious exhibit - in about 35 minutes, it whisks the viewer through 100,000 years of history.'

- From: 'Around the World in 100,000 years: An exhibit that tell the fabulous tale of humanity's circumnavigation of the globe has landed in the city.' By Brian Jones The Evening Telegram, June 12

'Visitors arrive and take a walk back in time, from fairly recent events in Newfoundland's history, to the arrival of the Vikings in L'Anse aux Meadows 1,000 years ago and back still further to humanity's birth on the plains of Africa. Viewers learn, through interpretations and artifact displays, about the development of the Viking culture as well as that of the aboriginal peoples - the Skraelings - who were here to meet them when the Europeans sailed to Vinland.'

- From: 'The Whole Story: Full Circle: First Contact demonstrates how the first meeting of Europeans and native North Americans was also a reunion' By Mark Vaughan-Jackson, The Evening Telegram, June 2, 2000

'Far too often in the past, exhibitions looking at 'voyages of discovery' from Europe to North America have focused - solely or primarily - on the European perspective, omitting the aboriginal side of things.'

- From: 'The Whole Story'

Quote from Kevin McAleese: "It's an amazing story about the Vikings coming to L'Anse aux Meadows, but in our exhibit we also tell an equally amazing story about the aboriginal people taking thousands of years to get there as well."

- From: 'Full Circle bridges time, cultures.' By Michael Connors, The Evening Telegram, July 9, 2000

' "Globalization began here," intones famed journalist-historian Gwynne Dyer, who narrates the tape that viewers listen to on headsets as they walk through the exhibit.....From that fascinating introduction, Full Circle: First Contact just keeps getting better. Dyer's sardonic humour and smart-aleck observations may seem out of place in what some might expect to be a sombre history exhibit, but his commentary serves to humanize the assembled artifacts.'

- From: 'Around the World in 100,000 years'

'From early flint tools found in Africa, to examples of Viking objects found in Scandinavian countries, to aboriginal artifacts from the high arctic, Full Circle uses interactive displays to set the scene for the Viking-Skraeling meeting 1,000 years ago.'

- From: 'The Whole Story'

'Also featured are the artifacts found here in Newfoundland that link the two people - aboriginal carvings of what were clearly Vikings and Viking household items that prove Viking men and women settled, at least for a time, here in Newfoundland.'

- From: 'The Whole Story'

'The exhibit breaks down into five modules, covering humanity's first steps out of Africa, the arrival of the American Indians and Scandinavians on either side of the Atlantic barrier, Ericsson's discovery of Vinland and his first contact with the aboriginal population, the second wave of European colonization 500 years later, and finally where the human race has ended up today in the age of globalization. Globes are placed at the centre of each module with animated lights that track humanity's movement across the earth.'

- From: 'Full Circle bridges time, cultures'

Quote from cruise passenger from Iron Mountain, Michigan: "I wasn't expecting this full circle concept. I just thought it would be about the story of the Vikings leaving Europe and coming to North America. I wish I had more time to go through it and study it more. It was very well put together and I would certainly recommend it."

- From: 'Cruise ship passengers take in Full Circle exhibit' By Gary Kean, The Western Star, Corner Brook, no date

'What makes Full Circle: First Contact' so powerful is that it sets out to humanize history and archaeology. It doesn't merely present dead artifacts, it attempts to explain the social aspects of the time period the items came from.'

- From: 'Around the World in 100,000 years'

'Full Circle: First Contact treats the Viking episode in Newfoundland like one gigantic, wonderful story, which is exactly how it should be treated. Anyone who thinks archaeology is dry will be pleasantly surprised...'

- From: 'Around the World in 100,000 years'