This text is part of the special notebook Center of Montreal Memories
Even before the opening of the new Center of Montreal Memories, the MEM teams toured the neighborhoods of the metropolis with citizen bikes and the program Montreal in 5 senses. The opportunity to awaken memories and take a different look at the city and its components.
Discover or rediscover Montreal through the images, smells, sounds, tastes and textures characteristic of the metropolis. The sensory experience Montreal in 5 senses, launched in 2022 by MEM artisans in collaboration with community organizations, was once again a great success this year, and this week won the Prize of Excellence from the Société des musées du Québec (SMQ). During these two years, all kinds of stories emerged from a sound or a taste.
“The idea is to awaken stories through the senses. It’s a simple way that easily sparks conversation,” explains Laure Barrachina, educational and cultural programs officer at the MEM. Each workshop also offers artistic activities to better understand the various facets of Montreal, whether by drawing the sound score of your neighborhood or by developing a mobile evoking the emanations of various sectors of the city.
A beautiful front door
“We set out to cover the entire Montreal area. We went to Rivière-des-Prairies, Anjou, Saint-Léonard, Lachine, L’Île-des-Soeurs… In total, we covered 14 of the 19 boroughs,” explains M.me Barrachina. “It was important for us to meet populations who are geographically far from the city center. » A program like Montreal in 5 senses incidentally affects a segment of the population that would not necessarily enter the doors of the MEM.
“We wanted to collaborate with community organizations in contact with a public that comes to the museum less often. It can be a great gateway to bringing these people in,” underlines Laure Barrachina. “We worked in particular with CARI St-Laurent, which welcomes new arrivals. We also approached women’s centers and youth centers in different neighborhoods. These organizations are all expected to become important partners of the MEM. »
All-terrain studios
Citizen bikes have also contributed to “taking the museum out of its walls” to broaden its scope of action. “We want to introduce Montreal in a different way to people who don’t always go to the museum,” underlines Annabelle Laliberté, museologist and director of the Center des memories montrealaises. “When we created citizen bikes in 2019, we also knew that we were going to close the Montreal History Center and we wanted to ensure our presence in the region. »
Equipped with a small mobile recording studio, these electric scooters have also proven to be very practical for collecting memories directly in the field. Last summer, citizen bikes crisscrossed the Milton Parc district up and down, in order to collect slices of life which will be the subject of a future exhibition next spring, within the walls of the MEM. “We took out old maps and photos, and invited people to tell us their stories,” says M.me Freedom.
This summer, the experience was happily repeated in Chinatown, also with the aim of developing dialogue between generations and allowing younger people to discover stories that they do not necessarily know. “It’s a really pleasant mediation tool because it allows you to meet people. We can also use it to do francization in schools,” adds the director of the MEM. “Since their launch, the bikes have been used everywhere in several boroughs, with different approaches. We must have made the equivalent of a round trip between Montreal and Trois-Rivières! »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.