The recent announcement of the creation of a National Museum of the History of Quebec (MNHQ) attempts to restore a vocation to the Camille-Roy-du-Séminaire-de-Québec pavilion, initially intended to house one of the Blue Spaces. Is the aim of the operation to restore a function to the building abandoned by the Blue Spaces project or to create a real museum project? Everything suggests that the first option is the one chosen. Let’s see why this National Museum of Quebec History does not hold up as it is presented to us.
First, we can question the idea of a museum without collections, worse, the idea of a museum which is only a simple showcase of another museum, and not the least. Indeed, the Musée de la civilization (MCQ) has been carrying out its mandate of disseminating the history of Quebec in an exemplary manner for several years now. His exhibition The time of Quebecers is the true reflection of Quebec culture taking as narrative framework “the Quebec society of today [qui] results from the dreams and projects of all these people who lived in and built Quebec. It is the story of communities rooted in a territory, whose objective has always been to preserve their integrity.” How can we compete with this noble intention and this great success that this exhibition represents?
No announcement on the horizon of the creation of a new or another national collection which, by the way, cannot be put into place by snapping your fingers! As a reminder, because according to our national motto “I remember”, which deserves to be reactivated more often, the MCQ collections were constituted from acquisitions from the Musée de la Province, the first museological institution created by the government of Quebec. This collection was split to create the collection of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) and that of the MCQ.
Why is the announcement of the creation of the National Museum of Quebec History causing so much noise, and why is the proposed project not unifying? Answering this question which arouses a certain uneasiness is simple. No consultation was organized to survey the opinions of experts in museology, history or the population and, above all, the museum community.
If the Blue Spaces had been announced without much foundation and had left the museum community doubtful, the same is true for this national museum project. Museum experts are sidelined when a simple consultation could have brought the community together and determined whether it is truly relevant to carry out such a project, in the current social and cultural context.
Why another museum on the history of Quebec? For years, the Quebec museum community has continued to approach our successive governments to protest loudly and clearly against the glaring lack of resources and the recurring underfunding of its network. In 2013, Between memory and becomingthe report of the Working Group on the future of the Quebec museum network, recommended in terms of museum financing an improvement of existing programs, a review of the operating assistance program and shared financing responsibilities.
In all regions, dozens of museums highlight the history of Quebec through programming with a local or regional scope. They carry the diversity of memories, they contribute in an essential way to the cultural vitality of the regions and they reach a considerable public, both local and tourist.
At the same time, museums face major challenges: unattractive salaries, small teams, insufficient project support for programming, education and mediation, exhibitions and, in particular, collection management. This last aspect is, however, fundamental for the constitution of history itself: it is thanks to the preservation of documents and objects that it is possible to understand how our ancestors lived. How were the 2013 recommendations applied to help Quebec museums? Creating ex nihilo another museum? All this leaves us wondering and perplexed.
Rather than creating a new museum in an already well-endowed capital, it would seem appropriate to consider expanding the existing network, capable of reaching a much larger audience at considerably lower costs. So, why not reinvest the financial resources that will be allocated for the “new” National Museum of Quebec History within current museums, taking care of the museums that shape the cultural landscape of Quebec and thus supporting their development?
Who will this museum be set up for? Whose story will it be? Who will be the audiences? Quebecers who don’t recognize themselves there? Tourists who will disembark from cruise ships in Quebec City? The current project seems to us to be very poor in scientific foundations and social relevance!