Sheila Copps

John met up with the Honourable Sheila Copps, former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (1993-1996) as well as a former and dynamic Minister of Canadian Heritage (1996-2003). During her tenure, she brought in the $500 million Tomorrow Starts Today program for the cultural sector,  ...

(Read More...)

In the Spotlight 

News Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, British Columbia ... (Read More...)

Insights

Niagara Handweavers & Spinners: Heritage Banner.  The Welland Museum proposed the Niagara Hand-weavers and Spinners Guild weave a banner to commemorate Canada’s 150th anniversary and depict the varied heritage of the Guild’s members. What a delightful challenge! ...

(Read More...)

Rapid Response Collecting: Determining History Here and Now

Emma Davis

When the women’s march in Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia became an international news story, Martin Hubley said he knew it deserved a spot at the Nova Scotia Museum. The small town demonstration made headlines in January 2017 when a sparse but passionate group of 15 people held their own demonstration in solidarity with marches across the globe. ... (Read More ...)

From mourning to action for the Museu Nacional

Nuno Porto

Around the 1800s, absolutist monarchies were becoming obsolete in Europe, mainly since the French Revolution. Exceptions were the Habsburgs ruling the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Russian Czars and the Portuguese kingdom. Escaping Napoleon, the Portuguese royal family from the house of Braganza, crossed the Atlantic to Brazil, then a Portuguese colonial possession. It was there that they were offered in 1821 a set of 14 items from Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and Haida Gwaii, by the Vice Consul of Russia in Brazil. ... (Read More ...)

Lessons from Rio

Jack Lohman

Last September we witnessed the horrific fire that devastated the National Museum of Brazil, an inconceivable tragedy. It was a beautiful, inspiring place. A real treasure house in Rio de Janeiro with more than 20 million cultural and scientific artefacts. I spent many hours there and find the images of the conflagration and the consequences heart breaking. The losses make a powerful case for the need to preserve and protect heritage, but how? ... (Read More ...)

When Disaster Strikes: Lessons Learned (and survived)

Laura Suchan

“Which painting in the National Gallery would I save if there was a fire? The one nearest the door of course.” attributed to George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw’s quotation above, although humorous, does contain an element of truth when it comes to the reality of disaster planning for many institutions. Hopefully, the recent tragedy at the Brazil National Museum can act as a wake-up call to museums ... (Read more ...)

Reducing Fire Risk in Your Museum

Jane Sirois

Fire is one of the ten agents of deterioration, primary threats to cultural property that form the basis of preventive conservation. Canadian Heritage has been advising heritage institutions on fire prevention for over 30 years. More recent work done at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) using data from Canadian museum fires, indicates that a museum with basic smoke detection that relies on municipal fire department for fire suppression has 26% chance of the fire spreading to the whole building. ... (Read more ...)

Understanding Apartheid
Mandela: Struggle for Freedom

Amber Davison, Connor Oke, Afuwa Renner

Last summer, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg opened Mandela: Struggle for Freedom, in partnership with the Apartheid Museum of Sough Africa. The special exhibition looks at the life of Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement that took shape around him. It also focuses on the international movement against apartheid and the role ... (Read more ...)

A Perilous Place
Commercial Interests vs. Heritage Protection

Adam Mahoney

Interview with Erica Claus, Art Appraiser and Former Secretary of CCPERB

On November 23, 2016, the Heffel Art Auction House sold the French Impressionist painting Iris Bleus, 1892, by Gustave Caillebotte, to an international buyer. The piece was sold for $678,500, then went to the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (CCPERB) for an export permit, which was denied. ... (Read more ...)