The report outlines the museum's activities and finances for the previous fiscal year, including listing staff, attendance figures, acquisitions, exhibitions, educational activities, public programming, events, loans, research projects, and publications of the museum and its staff. It includes descriptions of the beginning of the Great Hall seismic upgrades, the continuing changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase of attendance since the pandemic, the native Youth Program and their award winning podcast with CiTR, the museum’s role with BC HERN, and the publishing of four new books. It also includes updates from the Native Youth Program, Indigenous Internship Program, Audrey & Harry Hawthorn Library and Archives, Oral History and Language Lab (OHLL) and the teaching and training of university students.
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December 2, 2018 – Fall 2019
CURATORS: Jill Baird and Jennifer Kramer
Earthquakes have long been a part of the reality of living along the Northwest Coast. At MOA, preparation for this reality is a priority of monumental proportions as the Museum’s iconic Great Hall undergoes major seismic upgrades to help preserve the building, the collections and cultural heritage. In conjunction with this immense undertaking, MOA’s exhibition, Shake Up: Preserving What We Value, explores the convergence of earthquake science and technology with the rich Indigenous knowledge and oral history of the living cultures represented in MOA’s Northwest Coast collection. Beyond scientific discoveries, Shake Up also puts into the foreground traditional knowledge of earthquakes and natural disasters that has been passed down through generations throughout many cultures. Through multimedia installations, contemporary First Nations art and cultural objects, Shake Up explores the connection between cultural knowledge and natural seismic events. Bringing together the perspectives of cultures, arts and sciences, this exhibition reflects on what we value and how we preserve it. The exhibition will be displayed in areas throughout the Museum, and visitors will have the opportunity to see the majestic poles of the Great Hall undergo important conservation work while they are temporarily stored in the adjacent O’Brian Gallery. Shake Up: Preserving What We Value is the first of two exhibitions at MOA to explore the theme of natural disasters and their implications. A Future for Memory: In the Aftermath of the 3/11 Disaster, curated by MOA’s Curator of Asia, Fuyubi Nakamura, is slated to open in early 2020. Based on research from the past seven years, its focus will be on changing physical and psychological landscapes in the aftermath of 2011 earthquake in Japan, and consider its local and global resonances.