Museum of Anthropology

Vancouver’s cultural institutions are at a major turning point. We’ve just rebranded/relaunched/reinvented (a process chronicled on this blog and elsewhere. See recent coverage on BC Business here). Our west side neighbour, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, is set to unveil an impressive expansion and renovation in early 2010—an effort years in the making. And the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, also at UBC, is at work on a new $50-million complex that will house a research centre and a museum devoted to the university’s natural-history collections. It, too, is expected to launch in early 2010. Then are the ongoing plans for a new location for the Vancouver Art Gallery and talk of a National Maritime Centre to be located on the shore of North Vancouver. Add it all up, and we’re on the verge of a very different arts and culture scene—even if it takes years to achieve yet.

Renos and glittering new spaces are important, sure, but the changes afoot aren’t really about all that. It’s a rethinking of how museums should connect to their visitors. Our feature exhibit, Ravishing Beasts, has played a hand in our thinking on this. As we mounted that show earlier this fall, it generated discussions about where we’ve been; how we once used taxidermy to connect to nature, and how static forms like dioramas were designed and presented as “spy-holes” into authentic habitats. Point being: It was once enough to present objects and artifacts in display cases and leave it at that. Not anymore. Now museums and galleries are leaning on multimedia tools and public programs, like film nights and talks, to animate their exhibits, and, hopefully, fire up debate and conversation outside their walls.

There’s something else going on, too. As our CEO Nancy Noble describes, history museums are changing from a place to study the foreign or the exotic, to a place to study ourselves. Visitors demand to know why an exhibit—especially one hosted by a city museum—is relevant to them today.

So, what does that mean for collecting? Are these new forms like podcasts and Flickr photo sites then a part of our collection moving forward? Are the very things that are reenergizing the museum-going experience as valuable as traditional objects? Are we blurring the line between archive and museum—and does that even matter?

Tomorrow night at 7 p.m., we’ll get some insights on all of the above, when we host a free talk with Dr. Anthony Shelton of the Museum of Anthropology, Dr. Wayne Maddison of the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, and our own Nancy Noble. In a slideshow format, each of the presenters will present images of their respective institution’s latest acquisitions, and discuss how each is emblematic of their current collecting practices. Bonus: we’ll be offering a discounted admission of $7 to Ravishing Beasts, so if you haven’t wandered through yet, here’s your chance. Click here for additional event details on the talk; hope you can make it.