Museum with central city in the background
Designed by U.S architect Antoine Predock, the museum was only Canada's 5th national museum, and the first national museum to be built outside the National Capital Region. Known for his skill in interpreting regional identity through buildings, Predock created forms that were appropriate to landscapes and to human experience. His designs showed how human beings could interact spiritually with a building, technology, the natural environment and each other. In this unconventional structure of curving lines and bold geometry, the surfaces were irregular and the walls sloped at unusual angles.
glowing, criss-crossing ramps to the galleries
USA Today
Visitors savour the beauty of the architecture, especially the backlit alabaster ramps in the Hall of Hope, pools of water in the Garden of Contemplation and the Asper Tower of Hope, a 100-metre glass spire with views over the city skyline. There is also a coffeeshop with great city views and since the Museum is a place to learn, the coffeeshop is a peaceful, fine place to reflect on human rights.
The central concept of the museum was to promote human rights awareness through innovative teaching initiatives. Prominent among these was the creation of a national student travel programme that would bring 20,000+ students each year to the museum.
Building started in 2009 and the opening ceremonies took place in Sept 2014 for the galleries in this important cultural institution. Its goal was to enhance the public's understanding of human rights, to encourage reflection and dialogue. It examined human rights worldwide, focusing on human rights in a Canadian context.
Opened to the public in 2014, the Museum dominates the city skyline and is a special building architecturally outside and in. Spanning seven floors, the museum is brilliantly curated. There are 11 galleries spread across the museum, showing an array of human rights issues: What are Human Rights; Indigenous perspectives; Canadian Journeys; Protecting Rights in Canada; Examining the Holocaust; Turning Points for Humanity; Breaking the Silence; Actions Count, Rights Today; Inspiring Change; Expressions.
Opened to the public in 2014, the Museum dominates the city skyline and is a special building architecturally outside and in. Spanning seven floors, the museum is brilliantly curated. There are 11 galleries spread across the museum, showing an array of human rights issues: What are Human Rights; Indigenous perspectives; Canadian Journeys; Protecting Rights in Canada; Examining the Holocaust; Turning Points for Humanity; Breaking the Silence; Actions Count, Rights Today; Inspiring Change; Expressions.
Indigenous perspectives
CMHR
Winnipeg was a significant choice for the museum's location. This city played a role in important historical events eg the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, that affected Canada’s civil rights movement, advancement of Indigenous Peoples, women, French speakers and workers. It was home to one of Canada's most diverse communities, linking Francophones, First Nations, Métis and immigrant societies.
The Indigenous Perspectives gallery included a commissioned work by Ojibwa artist Rebecca Belmore, a handmade ceramic blanket from a series examining the ongoing trauma of Indigenous Peoples. Canadian Journeys featured residential schools exhibits, forced relocation of the Inuit, internment of Japanese Canadians in WW2, Chinese head tax, Underground Railroad, Komagata Maru and the Winnipeg General Strike. Examining The Holocaust also explored other genocides eg Ukrainian Famine 1932-3, Armenian Genocide, Rwandan Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia.
The museum was plagued by controversy from 2 directions. In 2008-12, archaeologists Sid Kroker and David McLeod excavated the museum’s building site and recovered c400,000 ancient Indigenous artefacts. Therefore the site may’ve been an inappropriate location for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, especially if it was located right on an Indigenous burial ground.
The second controversy was the separate galleries allotted to the Holocaust and the persecution of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. From 2010, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Canadians for Genocide Education and German-Canadian Congress stated that it was improper to give special status to two gross violations of human rights over others eg Ukrainians’ internment in camps across Canada (1914-20).
I Helen see two other problems. This Museum is a member of the Canadian Heritage Portfolio and reports to Parliament through its Minister. How would anyone know if a Canadian Heritage Minister had pressured the museum to cast Canada’s human rights record positively. And there is rarely unanimity on what destroys human rights. I would gaol any father who raped his daughter, if he wouldn’t allow an abortion. Others would gaol me for killing a foetus.
Alongside the permanent galleries, see the temporary exhibitions. The exhibit Climate Justice highlighted the connections between human rights and climate change, making youth activism stand out. In 2019, youth worldwide went on school strikes, taking over city streets and loudly denouncing inaction on climate change. They filled the streets and protested with signs expressing anger and fear about THEIR future, not their parents’. Greta Thunberg (15) went on a school strike in 2018, igniting a global movement. 500,000 people protested in Montreal with her in Sep 2019 and there were more strikes in 150 different cities that day.
There were and are so many people around the world who, for too much of history, have been denied basic human rights, stripped of and persecuted because of their culture, religion and identity. It is absolutely necessary to bring these stories from around the world stories to light. Ultimately, as the museum’s website states, the museum strives “to build understanding, promote respect, and encourage reflection.”
The Indigenous Perspectives gallery included a commissioned work by Ojibwa artist Rebecca Belmore, a handmade ceramic blanket from a series examining the ongoing trauma of Indigenous Peoples. Canadian Journeys featured residential schools exhibits, forced relocation of the Inuit, internment of Japanese Canadians in WW2, Chinese head tax, Underground Railroad, Komagata Maru and the Winnipeg General Strike. Examining The Holocaust also explored other genocides eg Ukrainian Famine 1932-3, Armenian Genocide, Rwandan Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia.
The museum was plagued by controversy from 2 directions. In 2008-12, archaeologists Sid Kroker and David McLeod excavated the museum’s building site and recovered c400,000 ancient Indigenous artefacts. Therefore the site may’ve been an inappropriate location for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, especially if it was located right on an Indigenous burial ground.
The second controversy was the separate galleries allotted to the Holocaust and the persecution of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. From 2010, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Canadians for Genocide Education and German-Canadian Congress stated that it was improper to give special status to two gross violations of human rights over others eg Ukrainians’ internment in camps across Canada (1914-20).
I Helen see two other problems. This Museum is a member of the Canadian Heritage Portfolio and reports to Parliament through its Minister. How would anyone know if a Canadian Heritage Minister had pressured the museum to cast Canada’s human rights record positively. And there is rarely unanimity on what destroys human rights. I would gaol any father who raped his daughter, if he wouldn’t allow an abortion. Others would gaol me for killing a foetus.
Alongside the permanent galleries, see the temporary exhibitions. The exhibit Climate Justice highlighted the connections between human rights and climate change, making youth activism stand out. In 2019, youth worldwide went on school strikes, taking over city streets and loudly denouncing inaction on climate change. They filled the streets and protested with signs expressing anger and fear about THEIR future, not their parents’. Greta Thunberg (15) went on a school strike in 2018, igniting a global movement. 500,000 people protested in Montreal with her in Sep 2019 and there were more strikes in 150 different cities that day.
There were and are so many people around the world who, for too much of history, have been denied basic human rights, stripped of and persecuted because of their culture, religion and identity. It is absolutely necessary to bring these stories from around the world stories to light. Ultimately, as the museum’s website states, the museum strives “to build understanding, promote respect, and encourage reflection.”
maps
kubikmaltbie
The exhibits explore human rights issues such as Indigenous rights, disability rights, gay rights, and stories of war and genocide that people continue to face. And while it is often a moving and emotional experience, there ARE many stories of triumph, courage and the human ability to survive. Witness the power of hope and triumph in the face of the greatest challenges to human rights.
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24 comments:
It's an excellent museum!
Why did they place a national museum in Winnipeg and not in one of the big cities?
It is so important to recognise and record the history of democracy and the wrongs that have been committed.
I've heard of this museum Hels. It certainly would be a wonderful experience to visit it in reality.
Thanks for sharing.
What a different and interesting design, I have never heard of this museum it sounds amazing. Human rights are something so many take for granted but so many are denied their basic human rights
This museum has such an ultra modern design. So aerodynamic
Irina
I agree.. both in design and themes.
That's very impressive and I feel there should be a few more of such museums around the world. There is no reason for us not having one here.
That is a handsome building, but I'm surprised that they could build there after finding all those artifacts. And I suppose it's hard to include all various groups of people and also not to include them also.Hope you're having a great new week Hels.
Hi cous
Asper, whose idea it was, thought that Winnipeg was situated perfectly near the centre of Canada. Thus it would play home to the new Museum, growing his beloved city's population and economy.
The Museum itself believes Indigenous people followed the local waterways for peacemaking, dialogue and trade, the perfect location for examining and celebrating human rights. Furthermore most Russians and Ukrainians who moved to Canada by 1924 where not allowed to settle in the Western provinces . Winnipeg in particular offered fertile land for farming to the lonely emigrees.
jabblog
that is quite true, but how many modern countries want to admit other nations' removal of human rights, let alone their own. Even so, since the first day the Museum opened in 2014, controversies have been raised and been argued over. See
https://wafmag.org/2015/08/canadian-museum-of-human-rights-unique-and-controversial/
Margaret
I had been many times to the Canada, but never to the Prairie Provinces. Then my family had some reunions in Winnipeg and we outsiders (Australians and Israelis) discovered an amazing city. Thank you Winnipeg.
Jo-Anne
true true....many minorities across the globe are still denied their basic human rights and perhaps their situations are getting worse, not better. I hope the vital material in the Winnipeg Museum continues to grow.
roentare
the architecture from the outside did not appeal to me at first, and therefore the ramps to the galleries inside also looked harsh. But as soon as I read the Museum's own explanation, it made perfect sense - moving from dark spaces to light, as a reflection of the evolution of human rights.
Andrew
there are some 20 such museums in the nearly 200 nations on the globe, all with different issues.
The first museum I could find started with Liberty Osaka in Japan in 1985. Osaka had been anxious about the low castes in their feudal system, anti-women discrimination, LGBT+s, ethnic minorities and the disabled. It also contains stories about Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Erika
They understood from the very beginning that people were going to argue with the location, the themes and the artefacts included in the Museum, some years before it even opened. It is not the first historical museum in the world to face different opinions and indeed controversies, but there are solutions:
1. educate the population so that their views catch up with the experts in history or
2. add new galleries and objects to the Museum, as Human Rights grows as a theme.
Extraordinary how the conflicts of a Human Rights museum building suddenly finds itself on the top of an issue of human rights, sitting on a previous site of indigenous artefacts, but the world is always complex. I like the idea but not the building though.
Thelma
There are beautiful buildings and community facilities around Winnipeg, the ones I loved most were probably Manitoba Museum, The Forks Market, Royal Canadian Mint, Assiniboine Park and Zoo, and the Exchange District. So I too was slightly shocked by the Human Rights Museum from the outside. But not bad for a relatively small city :)
The museum sounds interesting and the architecture looks spectacular.
CherryPie
The Winnipeg authorities wanted to make a new museum that would stand out in the flat, remote landscape and would attract many families and students.
They succeeded
Boa tarde de sexta-feira. Desejo um excelente final de semana. Sou apaixonado por museus. Obrigado por compartilhar conosco.
Luiz
so I am. As long as they have seats in the display rooms and plenty of reading material in the catalogue or next to the historical objects. It is important to maximise the learning experience.
Great post! I lived in Winnipeg for 22 years but this museum was built a few years after I had moved, so I've never visited it but do hope to the next time I find myself in Winnipeg. Izzy Asper was such a driving force in Winnipeg! His vision enriched our province and beyond.
Debra She Who Seeks/Anonymous
I visited Winnipeg a few times when my mum was alive because 8 of her first cousins moved to Canada when my immediate family moved to Australia. We had a super reunion, each time. The older cousins remembered Izzy Asper (1932–2003) very fondly, although he wasn't as dedicated to left wing politics as my family had been. But he made grand donations to culture, arts, synagogue life, education and human rights.
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