{"id":38340,"date":"2022-02-25T01:44:26","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T09:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=38340"},"modified":"2022-02-23T16:36:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T00:36:36","slug":"monovas-new-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2022\/02\/25\/monovas-new-space\/","title":{"rendered":"MONOVA\u2019s new space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Housed in the lobby of the Museum of North Vancouver, visitors can once more hop on Streetcar #153, which carried passengers along the Lonsdale Line from 1912 to 1946. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)<\/em><\/p>\n

This story took me a long time to write. Everything I read about the Museum of North Vancouver (MONOVA) set me off on another path of exploration. I\u2019ve watched (really) old home movies, looked at countless archival photos, perused online exhibits \u2013 all of this after I was treated in December to a tour of the museum\u2019s beautiful new space at 115 West Esplanade. Such is the seemingly never-ending amount of wonder the museum offers.<\/p>\n

Days after the official opening on Dec. 4, curator Barbara Hilden walked me through the exhibits. I arrived early and had time to buy a few things in the gift shop \u2013 there are some excellent books, clothing, toys and other merchandise for sale. I also walked through the restored electric Streetcar #153, which carried passengers up and down the Lonsdale Line from 1912 to 1946, and admired Squamish (S\u1e35wx\u0331w\u00fa7mesh) artist Wade Baker\u2019s cedar carving of Sch\u2019ich\u2019iyuy (the Two Sisters).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe red cedar Sch\u2019ich\u2019iyuy panel is based on the ancient S\u1e35wx\u0331w\u00fa7mesh Sister\u2019s Mountain Transformer legend,\u201d says Baker on MONOVA\u2019s website. \u201cThe twins were raised from childhood to be leaders for their people. They asked their father, the siyam, the chief, to bring peace to the warring tribes along the coast. He could not refuse their request and fires were lit all along the coast to signal a great welcoming feast to bring peace. For their efforts, the twins were immortalized in the mountain peaks you see today that watch over us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
The museum\u2019s lobby features a cedar carving of Sch\u2019ich\u2019iyuy (the Two Sisters) by Squamish carver Wade Baker. (photo by Alison Boulier)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond the museum lobby is a sparse area and a space for activities, a moveable wall separating the two. Visitors then walk through a corridor with images of trees on the walls, their branches continuing onto the ceiling. The Indigenous Welcome Circle, which highlights Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh (S\u0259l\u0313\u00edlw\u0259ta\u026c) stories and items, is the anchor of the room. There is the notable presence and prominence of Indigenous involvement in the displays and, the day before the new museum\u2019s opening, there was a memorandum-of-understanding signing ceremony that included members of the Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MOUs affirm our commitment to working with Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish nations as equal partners,\u201d Hilden told the Independent<\/em> in an email interview after the tour. \u201cMONOVA formed the Indigenous Advisory Committee several years ago to inform our programming, collecting, curatorial and operational activities. We rely on IVAC members to direct our strategic priorities in these areas and others, and to liaise with the nations. These needs do not diminish with opening our new location; on the contrary, their importance only increases. IVAC will continue to exist and we anticipate it growing larger and more robust as we look to incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing throughout the institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exhibits in the new permanent gallery include the Indigenous Welcome Circle, as well as themed displays \u2013 on sports, women in wartime, shipbuilding on the North Shore, and more. Interactive children\u2019s displays help young visitors understand, for example, how to load a cargo ship and what various animals eat and what their poop looks like (this was a particularly fun exhibit, I must admit). An interactive map takes people through the history of the North Shore by water, trail, rail and road. Panels on one of the walls take us from the late 1700s to the present day with several photos and brief descriptions of notable events, good and bad, listed chronologically. There is a section \u2013 Truth and Reconciliation \u2013 dedicated to residential school survivors.<\/p>\n

The museum\u2019s first feature exhibition is called You Are Here @ The Shipyards. \u201cIt discusses the changing nature of North Vancouver\u2019s lower Lonsdale area, from Indigenous settlement to working shipyards to contemporary tourist destination,\u201d explained Hilden. \u201cThe exhibition features historic objects, archival photos and film \u2026 [and] will open in the spring of 2022 and run for one year. In the future, it\u2019s anticipated that our calendar will be a mix of internally curated and traveling exhibitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The North Vancouver Museum opened in 1972 in the old Pacific Great Eastern Historic Railway Station and moved to Presentation House in 1976, where it remained until last year. With the new location, came the new name, MONOVA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taken more than 50 years, a multitude of meaningful discussions with community members and Indigenous leaders, countless volunteer hours, and painstaking research to amass a collection of more than 9,000 artifacts, but, after 20 years of planning, finally, the Museum of North Vancouver is ready to welcome the public,\u201d reads the press release announcing the December opening.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Squamish Nation partnered with architect Moshe Safdie in the 1990s and proposed building a twin span next to the original, congested Lion\u2019s Gate Bridge, but rehabilitation work of the existing bridge was undertaken instead. This model is\u00a0currently\u00a0on display at MONOVA. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the exhibits and activities that take place at 115 West Esplanade, there are many online exhibits. Archivist Dr. Jessica Bushey noted that two \u2013 Walter Draycott\u2019s Great War Chronicle, and Climbing to the Clouds: A People\u2019s History of B.C. Mountaineering \u2013 were created by the North Vancouver Museum and Archives, all departments working together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese were very large endeavours, taking nearly a year to create and involving consultants and partners,\u201d said Bushey. \u201cMore recently, the archives team has focused on creating online exhibitions drawing upon archival materials that provide virtual access to the collections and offer a companion to on-site exhibitions at the archives building in Lynn Valley. These are smaller in scale, but strong in their interactivity and showcasing of archival photographs, moving images and oral histories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, there is no specific Jewish connection in any of the material on display, but the museum is actively seeking additions to its collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment,\u201d said Hilden, \u201cwe have materials exhibited from North Vancouver\u2019s Ismaili, Iranian and Japanese communities. All the exhibits in our long-term gallery are designed to be flexible and changed out regularly, so we do anticipate updating and rotating these stories as more communities become aware of MONOVA and our desire to represent all North Shore stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said, \u201cWe would be thrilled to hear of more Jewish connections. We currently have very few tangible objects in our collection that would help us tell these stories, and I\u2019d love to hear from members of North Van\u2019s Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe archives of North Vancouver is very interested in acquiring donations of archival materials from the Jewish community working, residing and thriving in the city and district of North Vancouver,\u201d agreed Bushey, also noting the archives\u2019 current lack of these materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have one file on Samuel Davis Schultz, who was a judge and alderman in North Vancouver and founded the honour roll of North Vancouver High School in 1912, a photograph of S. Schultz and a 2014 copy of the special issue of the Western States Jewish History<\/em> quarterly journal, which focuses on the Davies and Schultz families. Lastly, we have the photographs from a City of North Vancouver 2000 millennium project on Diversity on the North Shore, which included the Jewish community and led to the publication From Far and Wide: Cultural Diversity in North Vancouver<\/em>,\u201d said Bushey.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone has archival records (e.g., correspondence, photographs, albums, diaries, home movies, business records etc.) they would like to donate,\u201d she added, \u201cthey can email the archives with the particulars and we will get in touch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMONOVA considers donations that have a close connection to the community of North Vancouver,\u201d said Hilden. \u201cThe artifacts don\u2019t need to be extremely old or extremely valuable to be considered. Sometimes, the most thought-provoking pieces are those that tell quotidian stories of everyday life. (Of course, the old and valuable belongings are welcome also!) We care for everything in our collection and, when we make the decision to acquire a piece, we commit to preserving, conserving and making it available for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

To connect with the museum or archives, visit monova.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Housed in the lobby of the Museum of North Vancouver, visitors can once more hop on Streetcar #153, which carried passengers along the Lonsdale Line from 1912 to 1946. (photo by Cynthia Ramsay) This story took me a long time to write. Everything I read about the Museum of North Vancouver (MONOVA) set me off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5555,4242,21281,6377,7169,21282,21283],"class_list":["post-38340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-archives","tag-history","tag-monova","tag-museums","tag-north-vancouver","tag-squamish-nation","tag-tsleil-waututh"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}