c’əsnaʔəm: the city before the city wins 2015 Governor General’s Award for Museums

c’əsnaʔəm: the city before the city has been awarded the 2015 Governor General’s Award for Museums History Alive! Award. The Making Culture Lab contributed to the development of a central interactive exhibit ‘ʔeləw̓k̓ʷ – Belongings’ at the Museum of Anthropology. Kate Hennessy and Reese Muntean curated and photographed the exhibition snəw̓eyəɬ (teachings) at Waterfront Station in Vancouver.

This outstanding multidisciplinary three museum project re-imagines Canada’s public spaces. Partnered with the Musqueam peoples, the project’s Indigenous urban history re-examines museum collections, and makes visible Vancouver’s historic and contemporary Indigenous cultural landscape. Each partner delivered different aspects of one large story, using a wide-variety of exhibit techniques and innovative technologies, presenting historic and contemporary voices across the landscape of Vancouver. Moving outside traditional museum walls, they even created a transit station module to reach thousands of commuters. This outstanding respectful partnership combined reconciliation with a creative engagement of citizens about Indigenous urban identities in one of Canada’s largest cities.”

Photo by Reese Muntean, 2015.

Photo by Reese Muntean, 2015.