World-renowned giraffe researcher’s work on display at THEMUSEUM exhibit

A new exhibit at THEMUSEUM is showcasing the work of a local, groundbreaking giraffe researcher.

“Giraffes: A Heightened Experience” opened at the Kitchener museum on Saturday.

The fourth floor exhibit features images, journals, videos, and interactive displays all based around the work of Waterloo researcher Anne Innis Dagg.

“It’s all about giraffes and it’s all about my mother,” said Mary Dagg, CEO of the Anne Innis Dagg Foundation. “It’s immersive. There’s a chance to swim in a ball pool, you get to put on VR glasses and travel to Africa, you can watch bits of my mother’s movie, and you can even walk like a giraffe.”

Before she passed away in April, Innis Dagg partnered with THEMUSEUM to work on the exhibit.

“I’m just delighted that young girls and boys are seeing what they can become now through the lens of what she did,” said David Marksell, CEO of THEMUSEUM.

Dagg says her mother first fell in love with learning about giraffes when she was a little girl.

“She saw her first giraffe when she was three years old, looked up at it, it looked down at her, and she said: ‘you’re magnificent. I want to know everything about you.’

“She took it on herself to make sure other people learned about giraffes.”

Giraffes: A Heightened Experience” is set to run at THEMUSEUM until the end of 2024.