Opium: The Heavenly Demon Controversial, Powerful
“Opium!
Dread agent of unimaginable pleasure and pain!”
Thomas De Quincey, 1821
Long
before crystal meth seized headlines, the world was in thrall of a
different deadly drug - opium.
But
unlike methamphetamine, opium wasn’t so easy to demonize. First used as
a medicine 3,500 years ago, opium was celebrated as a cure for a variety
of different ills – everything from pain relief to bed-wetting to the
common cold. Many of history’s foremost writers and artists attributed
their greatest moments of creation to the drug. Opium dens were considered
hip hangouts for intellectuals, bureaucrats, and artists of all types.
There
was a darker side to opium; one that stole countless lives, plunged a
once-powerful nation into poverty, and sparked two wars.
Opium:
The Heavenly Demon, a controversial exhibit from The Vancouver Museum,
explores all sides of the drug’s colourful history. Learn why this
valuable substance, harvested from innocent-looking poppies, caused such
upheaval throughout history.
Supplemented
by artifacts from The Manitoba Museum’s own collections,
Opium: The Heavenly Demon also features
beautiful treasures, including cloisonné opium pipes, a hand-carved
rosewood and abalone bed from the late 19th century, and a
series of Persian lacquered paintings.
Flanked
by a field of gorgeous poppies at the entrance and a chilling morgue at
the exit, Opium: The Heavenly Demon encourages visitors to make up their
own minds about whether the drug is a blessing or a curse.
Opium:
The Heavenly Demon will be at The Manitoba Museum from January 12th
until March 19th. The exhibit is included with the purchase of
any regular Museum admission.
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30 -
Holli
Moncrieff, Communications and Public Relations Manager at (204) 988-0614
or hmoncrieff@manitobamuseum.ca.
Interesting Opium Facts
1)
There is evidence that opium was traded as early
as 1500 BC in Greece and Egypt.
2) Opium was once used as food in Europe; fossil remains were found in 4500-year-old Neolithic Swiss lake settlements.
3) Many panaceas in the late 19th century contained opium or morphine; some were fed to infants to keep them quiet (for example, ‘Soothing Syrup’).
4)
Heroin, a synthesized form of morphine, was
created in the 1870’s, and produced commercially in 1898 by the Bayer
Company. Heroin was initially used to cure lung ailments, such as
tuberculosis, but was also used, with tragic results, to cure morphine
addiction.
5)
Opium’s principle ingredient is morphine,
which is still considered to be one of the world’s most effective pain
relievers.
6) The British started trading opium to China in the 18th century in order to offset a trade imbalance caused by “tea mania”, as more and more British subjects demanded tea from China.
7) In spite of China’s fight to keep opium from being imported into their country, the British won both Opium Wars. The second Opium War forced China to legalize opium imports. By the end of the 1800’s, opium shops and dens outnumbered every other form of retail establishment in most Chinese cities.
8) In the late 1800’s, eight opium factories still existed in Vancouver.
9) Opium continues to play a major role in economics worldwide.
10)The United Nations estimates the illegal drug trade to be worth $400 billion annually.
Holli Moncrieff
Communications/Public Relations Manager
The Manitoba Museum
(204) 988-0614
hmoncrieff@manitobamuseum.ca
Opium:
The Heavenly Demon | Un paradis infernal
January
12 - March 19, 2006
This
fascinating bilingual exhibit from the Vancouver Museum explores the long
and diverse history of opium use around the world.
For
more details, visit us on-line at http://www.manitobamuseum.ca
