Vimy Ridge Museum exhibit

Via a post by Gail Dever

The Royal Montreal Regiment Museum has a new exhibition featuring 3D reproductions of carvings made by World War I soldiers, who lived deep underground in the days and weeks leading up to the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917.

Vimy Ridge cave carvings are on exhibit at The Royal Montreal Regiment Museum until the end of April. Source: Souterrain Impressions, The Royal Montreal Regiment Museum website.

The soldiers lived in a former chalk quarry that was connected to a network of kilometres-long tunnels dug underground around Vimy to keep safe. To pass the time, they carved regimental badges and other messages into the soft chalk walls of the caves.

A Canadian non-profit company, called Canadigm, visited the caves and captured the carvings, using non-invasive 3D laser scanners and high-resolution photography.

The Souterrain Impressions exhibit is made up of 20 self-standing 'modules', each highlighting one carving and the soldier who created it, along with an interactive multimedia kiosk, wall maps, graphic panels depicting the life of a typical Canadian leading up to the First World War, and "touch & feel" display panels that duplicate carvings for a tactile experience.  Included are photos of the soldiers who created them (wherever possible) and short biographies.

Souterrain Impressions is on display in English and French at The Royal Montreal Regiment Museum until April 28. Afterward, it will tour across Canada. The exhibit is open Monday to Friday from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 4625 Ste-Catherine Street West in Westmount.

You can read more about this exhibit and see photos in this CBC report  -

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/vimy-ridge-exhibit-1.3522162

and on The Royal Montreal Regiment Museum website

http://www.royalmontrealregiment.com/souterrain-impressions/souterrain-impressions/