In the public space at the entrance to the MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises, an installation gently mocks two symbols of the metropolis: an orange cone—what else?—and a series of no-parking signs. You know, those signs that seem harder to decipher than the hieroglyphics on the Egyptian pyramids?
The first permanent exhibition of the young museum, simply titled MONTREALcelebrates in the same uninhibited tone the centuries-old history of the largest city in Quebec. “Montreal is as big as a universal disorder,” summarizes the great Gaston Miron at the beginning of this captivating exhibition.
The island gets a bad rap for traffic congestion, homelessness and the housing crisis, but the exhibition highlights the irresistible charm of Montreal’s chaos. We revisit the rich and vibrant history of this former industrial powerhouse that became a place of possibility for people from all over the world — who became authentic Montrealers.
The museum’s beautiful room allows you to “see, hear, meet and breathe” the metropolis through the stories of its residents of yesterday and today. The arrival of French settlers in indigenous lands, the Great Peace of 1701, the British Conquest of 1759-1760, the first synagogue around the same time, the great families (Molson, Redpath, Steinberg), the creation of a French-speaking elite, linguistic tensions, growing cultural diversity, everything is covered.
But the young museum — the former Centre d’histoire de Montréal, which became the MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises – last year wanted to show the “hidden sides of the history” of the metropolis from a multitude of points of view. No fewer than 407 people were consulted, over a period of more than five years, for the development of the exhibition.
We are far from a story focused on the white “French-Canadian” majority, as the Legault government wants for the future National Museum of Quebec History.
“When you start to smooth out history, you forget a lot of people,” says historian Catherine Charlebois, section head and curator of the museum.
In the recesses of the past
By reflecting Montreal’s real and factual diversity, we give “value, richness and depth” to the city’s history, she explains. The exhibition explores “the rough edges and points of tension” that have always animated the metropolis.
“At the MEM, we have the mischievous pleasure of lifting our skirts! Of going to look in places where we perhaps look less. We like to highlight the new, we enjoy strolling through the alleys of Montreal history,” illustrates Catherine Charlebois as she shows us around the exhibition.
The location and its architecture are fabulous: huge bay windows overlook the intersection of Saint-Laurent Boulevard and Sainte-Catherine Street, the epicenter of Montreal life for over a century. It feels like history comes to life before our eyes.
“Presenting some one hundred oral and video testimonies, emblematic objects and images, the exhibition dynamically and touchingly presents the unique stories of Montrealers from diverse backgrounds. Ranging from the individual to the collective, from official history to its hidden plot, the museum tour highlights the diversity of civic experiences lived throughout history and takes a lucid look at our collective memory,” summarizes the museum documentation.
Contrasting visions
There is never a dull moment on this well-designed tour. Visitors can view multimedia presentations on large screens where they see and hear people telling their stories. Major events (Expo 67, the construction of the metro), slices of life, and significant places come to mind.
A story among others: the dynamic and bubbly Maude Massicotte, who has cerebral palsy, takes us from the Ahuntsic district to the city centre in a wheelchair. We see the ups and downs of travel for people with disabilities.
We also follow Guylain in his wanderings as a homeless person. A Mohawk elder from Kahnawake tells the story from the perspective of the First Nations. She would probably not share the vision of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, who tell this in an old Canadian history book: “Among the Indians, the missionaries came.” We meet Rwandan Perpétue Muramutse, who fled the 1994 genocide by bringing a saucepan, exhibited at the MEM, that allowed her to survive in refugee camps before landing in Montreal.
The exhibition aims to answer two questions, explains curator Catherine Charlebois: What is Montreal? Who is Montreal? Her very personal answer, based on the testimonies she and her team collected: “It’s a city where I’m free to be myself.”