Museum of Vancouver, City of Vancouver, and Vancity Team Up to Support Reconciliation through Public Education Series

Partnership Coincides with “Haida Now” Exhibition,
presented by MOV in partnership with the Haida Gwaii Museum,
a 15-month Sensory Feast of Haida Innovation and Tradition

The Museum of Vancouver (MOV) is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Vancouver City Savings Credit Union (Vancity) and the City of Vancouver (COV) as Partners in Reconciliation in support of MOV’s journey of Reconciliation. The partners share the goals of promoting public awareness of Reconciliation, strengthening relations with First Nations and Indigenous communities, and incorporating First Nations’ perspectives into their respective organizations to improve and enhance their services.

This initiative coincides with MOV’s presentation of Haida Now, an exhibition guest curated by Haida Curator Kwiaahwah Jones in collaboration with Viviane Gosselin, Director of Collections & Exhibitions at MOV, on display from March 16, 2018 to March 2020. The collection features more than 450 works by carvers, weavers, photographers, and print-makers, some collected as early as the 1890s. The City of Vancouver is also a partner in Haida Now, which offers visitors the opportunity to experience the world view and sensibility of the Haida people while gaining greater appreciation of the role museums can play in the Reconciliation movement.

Vancity president and CEO Tamara Vrooman says her organization is proud to join MOV and the City in supporting and promoting the broader public education goals associated with the three-way Partners in Reconciliation initiative. “Programs like this create important opportunities to connect with Indigenous people and their culture in a meaningful way, and better understand our shared history.”

“As a City of Reconciliation, Vancouver is honoured to support the Haida Now exhibit,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “I want to thank the Museum of Vancouver, the Haida curators, artists, traditional knowledge keepers and local First Nations for creating an opportunity to learn more about the Haida culture, past and present, in the spirit of reconciliation.”

As Partners in Reconciliation, MOV, Vancity, and COV envision working towards a public education series and the exploration of the role of cultural institutions within Vanier Park in the overall Reconciliation journey, given their shared use of unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Skwxwú7mesh, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

Visitors to MOV also have an opportunity to explore c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city, a ground-breaking exploration of the city’s ancient landscape and Musqueam’s early history and living culture. The exhibition draws multiple connections between c̓əsnaʔəm artifacts, Indigenous ways of knowing, colonialism, heritage politics, cultural resilience, and contemporary Musqueam culture.

“The Museum of Vancouver is proud of our collaboration with the Haida Gwaii Museum and we look forward to offering public programs that elaborate on themes of the Haida Now and c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city exhibitions and to facilitate public conversation about the role of museums and Canadians in the Reconciliation movement,” says Museum CEO Mauro Vescera. Having Vancity and the City of Vancouver come on board as Partners in Reconciliation, allows us to extend the reach of these programs and to include them as the leaders of civic and cultural institutions that have major roles to play in Reconciliation.”

For more information about Partners in Reconciliation, Haida Now, c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city and special programs associated with these initiatives, please visit museumofvancouver.ca.

About Museum of Vancouver (museumofvancouver.ca)
The Museum of Vancouver connects Vancouverites to each other and connects Vancouver to the world. The museum’s programs, exhibitions, and collections bring people together and inspire conversation about the future. The museum is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring a socially connected, civically engaged city.

LISTING INFORMATION	Museum of Vancouver presents Haida Now
Dates:	March 16, 2018 to March, 2020
Address:	Museum of Vancouver 1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver, BC, V6J 3J9
Website:	museumofvancouver.ca