Traveling to the past to understand our present

This text is part of the special Museums notebook

For the summer season, Quebec history museums are building bridges between the past and the present. Lost civilizations, indigenous know-how, collective struggles… in the province’s cultural establishments, we are invited to reflect on power relations and our connection to the territory. Overview of exhibitions, events, experiences and workshops to immerse yourself in over the coming months.

Montreal

With Presence of the past, the McCord Stewart Museum is participating for the first time in the Biennial of Contemporary Indigenous Art. For the occasion, the establishment is hosting two original works by Mohawk artist MC Snow. These are inspired by a choice of more than 40 elements from the Museum’s collection presented jointly with the artist’s sculptures. “I grew up seeing objects in encyclopedias: it was important for me to encounter them in real life,” explains the man who will be in residence at the institution until August 18. MC Snow has thus selected artifacts that he describes as “bearers”, both literally and figuratively: pottery, baby carriers, dolls, arrows… “This link between the objects in the collection and those that we still use today “Today highlights the continuity of our traditions and values,” adds the artist, who worked closely with Indigenous curator Jonathan Lainey during his creative residency. “It’s fantastic to have Indigenous people working with Indigenous collections. It opens connections between objects and people,” he continues. To generate a dialogue between the chosen objects and his sculptures, MC Snow used pottery. This is a decision that is all the more visible with Telltell me a story, a large piece of damaged pottery that echoes the broken pots found by archaeologists on its territory, near the St. Lawrence River. The room Girl with basket, also made of pottery, shows a young girl holding a woven basket to which ribbons have been tied. This basket is that of the White Dog Ceremony, practiced during the short winter days, where participants attach their ribbons filled with wishes to a basket which they burn. “The smoke sends our prayers to the creator,” explains the artist. Round tables, workshops and visits are planned alongside the exhibition.

At the Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu, we are celebrating, until June 18, the 350^e anniversary of the death of Jeanne Mance. Several activities are organized ahead of the date in question, including open houses of the hospital crypt, a walking tour in Old Montreal and a film conference.

At Maison Saint-Gabriel, the rich program offers an opportunity to immerse yourself in life in New France. A guided tour of the gardens filled with native plantations is offered all summer: this informs us about the diet of the first arrivals, but also about the horticultural practices of native women of the time. Four times during the warm season, the establishment will organize a musical talk in the green courtyard. The Claude-Gervaise Ensemble will present reconstructions of New France instruments in a festive setting, with a beer or cider in hand.

At Pointe-à-Callière, it’s the exhibition Olmecs and the civilizations of the Gulf of Mexico which attracts attention. This invites people to discover the oldest Mesoamerican civilization – yet unknown until the 19th century.^e century. Nearly 300 fascinating objects will be displayed there, many of which have never before been presented to the public. After your visit, be sure to stroll through the pedestrian zone adjacent to the museum, which will hold various activities and events related to the current exhibitions all summer long.

Quebec

From May 30, the Musée de la civilization offers us a brand new permanent exhibition. Quebec, in other words sheds light on the meetings and exchanges between peoples, cultures and individuals who have shaped Quebec. The public is invited to stroll through a staged route of more than 1,500 m², the largest surface area ever allocated to a single exhibition in the history of the establishment. It presents 1,300 articles classified according to six key themes, including several artifacts. At the same time, the temporary exhibition Gladiators. Heroes of the Colosseum (from June 21 to September 22, 2024), straight from Rome, offers an “unprecedented foray” into the daily life of the Colosseum fighters. Rare objects, multimedia installations and a costume workshop punctuate this event.

The Musée du Monastère des Augustines, for its part, explores renewal and contemplation, two principles which guided the lives of the nuns who saw the creation of the establishment. In the temporary exhibition Collect, thought around museotherapy, you have to take your time. “It’s an exhibition that invites people to leave the action behind,” explains Andréanne Cantin, head of the museum. Thus, several scattered seats, here and there, force us to slow down the pace, to manipulate objects, to observe, to listen and, why not, to get our hands dirty. “The public can indulge in the quillwork. It is an artistic practice of female religious communities which consists of rolling strips of paper very thinly and sticking them to one another to create patterns or drawings,” continues M.^me Canteen. A collective work will emerge throughout the summer.

Montérégie

Two temporary exhibitions will mark the summer at the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional Museum. Water stories (until August 25) traces the way in which the region’s waterways have shaped its history. For his part, Felix’s chords notably presents the first two guitars that belonged to the legendary singer Félix Leclerc while he lived in Vaudreuil.

Elsewhere in Quebec

At the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, this is the very recent First kingdoms of Europe which promises to amaze visitors. Thanks to more than 700 rare objects from the collections of 26 institutions in south-eastern Europe, we retrace no less than 6,500 years of history. The magnificent artifacts bear witness to the emergence of the role of precious metals in the balance of power of individuals, but also to the way in which these riches were used to, we are told, “rule over the masses”.

For its part, the Sherbrooke History Museum will open on June 6 Women’s fashion in 5 stepsa fun exhibition which presents clothing, accessories and advertisements from the decades 1890 to 1970. The objects allow us to forge links with the social changes experienced and claimed by women during these pivotal years for their social and political emancipation .

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