This text is part of the Summer of Museums special booklet
30 years is something to celebrate! The Pointe-à-Callière museum will celebrate this anniversary in style with an abundant and traveling indoor and outdoor program.
Who said history was boring? Certainly not the fans of the Pointe-à-Callière museum, which for 30 years has been exploring multiple facets of our tangible and immemorial past. Devoted in its beginnings solely to the history of Montreal, this institution unfolds today through seven pavilions that deal with both our heritage, such as the history of Montreal neighborhoods, and that of great human civilizations, at the image of Incas or queens of Egypt.
“We also organize many unifying and civic activities,” adds Katy Tari, Director of Collections, Programs and Public Services at the museum, who intends to amaze us with a rich and diversified summer program.
From Montreal to Valhalla
In order to mark with a white stone its 30and anniversary and 380 years of Montréal, Pointe-à-Callière has decided to bring together 400 favorite objects, among the thousands it keeps, to pay tribute to this metropolis and the defining moments that have marked its history.
Consisting of furniture, clothing, jewelry, toys, tools, maps, posters, iconography and staged books, the exhibition Heart stroke ! Our collections are exhibited offers us until January 8, 2023 to travel through time and test our knowledge. “We make nods to Expo 67 and the 1976 Olympics, but also to the fireworks that accompanied the opening of the Victoria Bridge, or even to the department stores that animated the city center”, indicates Mme Tari. It also invites visitors to obtain the anniversary publication accompanying the exhibition, which brings together for the occasion 30 events and 30 cultural activities.
A second temporary exhibition should also appeal to many visitors fascinated by Scandinavian history and mythology. Presented for the first time in Quebec, the prestigious Viking collection of the National Museum of Denmark will allow us to dive until October 10 into the universe of this people that always strikes our imagination.
Articulated around four great stories told by the Scandinavian poet Thorvald, 650 artefacts and careful dramatization, in particular with reconstructions and projections of the game Assassin’s Creed Valhalla from Ubisoft Montreal, Vikings. North Sea Dragons will be a major immersive experience in the daily life of the Vikings from the year 793 to the year 1066, promises Mme Tari. “This exhibition will also help, she explains, to demystify the culture and history of these fierce warriors, who were also farmers, traders and great adventurers. »
A host of outdoor activities
The 2022 summer season at the Pointe-à-Callière museum will be particularly lively outside the walls of the institution. Until October, a pedestrianized urban space will be set up around the building to accommodate many activities related to the history of Montreal and current exhibitions.
Starting May 15, the free outdoor exhibition A parliament under your feet will invite passers-by on Place D’Youville to revisit the history of this place, which housed Montreal’s first covered market and the seat of Parliament in the 19and century.
On the same date, meet in front of the museum, where an eight-foot-high wishing tree will collect the wishes and ideas of all interested citizens, in addition to seeing an artist at work creating a large mural on the floor on the theme of water and navigation, thus forming a bridge between the Port of Montreal and the exhibition vikings.
The latter will be, as a bonus, at the center of a vast series of family activities on Sundays, from July 10 to August 21. Reconstruction of a Viking camp, tales and theatrical performances, demonstrations of combat and crafts, weapons and weaving workshops, giant board games, photobooth in costumes: Scandinavian civilization will be honored from every angle.
At the same time, the lunchtime music (Thursdays, from July 7 to August 25), activities surrounding the Month of Archeology in August, as well as the popular 18th century public marketand century back after two years of absence, will be added to the well-stocked summer program of the Pointe-à-Callière museum. A visit is a must!