Multiculturalism is a Montreal value

Yesterday we visited Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History. There were three main exhibits that we saw: one about the history of St. Catherine Street, another about the history of the museum site in Old Montreal, and a third called Montreal Love Stories, that is an introduction to the many cultural communities and various heritages that make up present-day Montreal.

John:

This might be my favourite museum so far: it had maps, streetcars, hockey, ruins and dioramas. The exhibition on St. Catherine Street allowed the visitor to take in the entire history of Montreal, from 1760 to 2011. Focusing on one street and its development is a great way to get a lot of info into one exhibit. The series of maps that show the growth of the street also detail the growth of the city from when it was just the Old Port and farm land, to the heyday in the 19th century, to the decay after the Quiet Revolution (way to ruin it, ruiners), to a rebound today. There were three main subjects: entertainment, shopping and community. The entertainment portion featured photos from the first movie theatres, and of course Lili St-Cyr's famous reverse strip-tease. I love that Montreal had a DA who tried to "clean up" the town, as Pax Plante teamed up with Jean Drapeau in 1946 to tear down all the brothels, only to leave the women of the night on the street. Sex in Montreal is just an inevitability: why fight it? Another inevitability is shopping. The development of big department stores, and later specialty boutiques, defined St. Catherine and was part of what made Montreal the economic engine of Canada for a long time. Even as stores changed hands (check out how the Morgan's M recalls the B of its new owner, the Hudson's Bay company), the people kept coming. They got there on the streetcar, and then the metro. The metro was built under de Maisonneuve and Dorchester so as not to disturb the main shopping drag on St. Catherine. Now, the shopping malls sprawl under the street, spanning from the Green line to the Orange line.

It's amazing how quickly and easily we get to today as we walk along St. Catherine. I had to buy the book in order to really drink it all in. It's too cold now, but the exhibit made me want to walk the length of the street, from Westmount to the east end, and remember each section, each story. It's only 11km long, but it has about 250 years of history to it.

The basement of the museum houses its permanent collection, another view of Montreal's history, this time from the museum's site, which was formerly the Royal Insurance building, as well as an old Customs Office, and also the site of Montreal's first cemetery. The empty graves and shadow's projected on the stone walls was Platonically eerie. They list all the dead, Iroquois and European, and how they died. The official causes of death were: killed by Iroquois, accidental death or natural death. For the Iroquois, there's no indication of whether they were killed by Europeans. Ah, the old Quebecois arrogance is never far...

The Montreal Love Stories exhibit is strictly for tourists, I have to say. It's just an overview of Montreal's ethnic neighbourhoods, some videos of multi-cultural couples, and displays of "cultural" objects, like the 5 K's of Sikhism, or a set of bocce balls. Seriously. I suppose as a Torontonian and now a Montrealer, multiculturalism is not really museum worthy to me, it's just a way of life. It's just normal that different people can live together and get along. I don't see the big deal. Although when the Parti Quebecois' culture critic Louise Beaudoin says that "multiculturalism is not a Quebec value," I can see why it's important to put it out there.

Miriam:

Hier nous sommes allés au musée de la Pointe-à-Caillière, nommé d'après le premier gouverneur de la Nouvelle-France qui y avait établi résidence.

Le musée est très intéressant et la visite des ruines nous mets en contexte histoire de Montréal. L'exposition sur la rue Sainte-Catherine et charmante et bien remplie, tellement qu'elle serait bien mieux installée dans une salle beaucoup plus grande.

Ce qui m'amène à un sujet qui devrait être rappelé régulièrement aux visiteurs de musée en général et qui pourrait dans certain cas faire le saut à la vie de touts les jours.

1. S.V.P. gardez vos distances.

Le musée est une expérience que vous devez partager avec le public, si vous êtes à 30cm de l'affiche, peinture ou autre, vous empêcher toutes les autres personnes derrière vous d'apprécier l'expérience.

2. Pensez-y a deux fois avant de donner votre opinions.

Il est certain que pour plusieurs le musée ce partage avec leur accompagnateur et qu'une partie de l'échange ce passe à travère vos commentaires. Pensé aux autres qui n'ont pas pris le tour guidé des commentaires gratuits et déplacés. D'ailleurs vous courer le risque de vous faire rétorquer par quelqu'un qui a des commentaires plus tranchant que vous

3. Lisez dans votre tête

A moins que vous ne fassiez la visite avec un enfant qui ne sait pas lire je vous en prie lisez dans votre tête, car il n'y a rien de plus emmerdant que d'avoir un mec qui lit tout à sa blonde, de grâce laisse la lire pour elle-même!

4. Un peu de respect

Ne vous moquez pas du passé, dans un futur plus proche que vous pensez vos UGG et Canada Goose vont être aussi ridicule que les habits des amérindiens vous semblent maintenant.

Voilà quatre petites règles qui rendent l'expérience pour tous tellement plus intéressant.

Maintenant allez voir pour vous-même le musée de l'archéologie de Montréal. Ça vaut la peine.

Note: Someone else had the same idea as us. Here's what she thought about the Pointe-à-Callière museum. Different exhibits and different perspective.