This text is part of the special section Museums
At the Pointe-à-Callière museum, located on the site of the founding of Montréal, the permanent exhibitions immerse visitors in the fascinating history and archeology of the metropolis.
At L’Éperon, the museum’s reception building, we begin our visit with Montreal at the heart of trade. The exhibition retraces the beginnings of human presence on the Pointe-à-Callière site through its 150 artefacts organized into a narrative sequence of seven zones. The selection of objects offered to us was renewed last May, as part of the constant updating of historical research which enriches the content, according to the general manager, Anne Élisabeth Thibault. “Over the past 15 years, we have also greatly expanded our network of contacts with the various communities in Montreal, so we were able to include them in the production of the script,” she explains. It’s a fabulous exhibition, because it gives voice to the three great Aboriginal nations that are in Montreal. »
Whether walking through Ville-Marie’s first cemetery, which dates back to 1642, or discovering objects taken from archaeological digs that reveal the presence of hunter-gatherers 4,500 years ago, you are literally walking through the past. “What is special about being a site museum, therefore a museum with vestiges, is the fact of walking where people have literally lived,” says Anne Élisabeth Thibault. There is a little thrill behind the story being told. »
At the beginning
We continue the visit with the Memory Collector, this heritage sewer considered to be the first sewer collector in North America. Unveiled in 2017, the enhancement of this vestige built between 1832 and 1838 was carried out by Moment Factory. The resulting immersive experience gives this underground passage an aura of mystery. “It’s made of bricks, but it’s in absolutely remarkable condition,” says Ms.me Thibault. We installed a light installation there, because we saw the importance of animating it so that people can feel good there. »
It is this 110 meter path that you have to cross to get to the exhibition Here was founded Montrealalso launched in 2017 for the 375and anniversary of the city’s founding and which marked the opening of the museum’s seventh pavilion: the Fort de Ville-Marie–Pavillon Québecor. “It traces the arrival of the Europeans in 1642, their challenges and the encounters they had. Two hundred artifacts allow visitors to imagine life in this first fort where Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, Jeanne Mance and the First Montrealers made their home. Later, this fort would become the Callière estate, scene of the Great Peace of Montreal, a major event that led to the signing of a peace treaty with some thirty Aboriginal nations. A panoramic glass roof illustrating this moment is in the exhibition Montreal at the heart of trade. “Throughout the visit, you can make connections with what you have just seen from one exhibition to another. We try to keep people in a historical frame. »
For its part, The builders of Montreal, another commemorative exhibition located in the Place du marché sector focuses on little-known chronological events, but also portrays Montreal families as well as successive waves of immigration. “We understand that the history of Montreal is a story of immigration,” notes Anne Élisabeth Thibault. The Port of Montreal was at its time the largest port in North America. It becomes a hub of the continent’s economy. Moreover, a mosaic of cultural objects of various origins is presented at the end of the route.
Detour through an Ali Baba’s cave
The Pointe-à-Callière museum begins its thirtieth year of existence with an exhibition that reveals many treasures from its ethnographic collections less known to the public, made up of approximately 40,000 pieces. Heart stroke ! The collections are exhibited showcases 400 of them, symbols of different facets of Montreal life. “We present different themes that illustrate Montreal through its past. We understand that with objects that are sometimes recent, like the cell phone, we can have a historical perspective. We also understand how the more time advances, the faster the world changes, with certain objects quickly losing their usefulness. The scenography of the exhibition borrows a lot from theatre. Indeed, we enter a space containing multiple boxes and therefore multiple stories.