By Robyn Reimer, Manager – Integrated Learning, The Exploration Place Museum + Science Centre

Sound Off

Spoken words, shared stories: B.C.’S Museum and gallery industry to meet in Prince George

Sep 5, 2019 | 1:46 PM

Prince George – with its Aboriginal history dating back more than 9,000 years, plus its more recent industrial and multicultural personality—will soon be closely examined by some of the brightest eyes in BC culture.

The BC Museums Association will hold its conference and annual general meeting here from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, allowing arts, history, and science administrators from across the province to see all this city has to offer in those foundational aspects of our society.

The Exploration Place is proud to co-host this event with Tourism Prince George and Two Rivers Gallery, and together we will also showcase historic Huble Homestead, the Prince George Railway & Forestry Museum, and Barkerville.

It will give unprecedented exposure to the key cultural institutions of the city, covering the area’s long history, the depth of our arts scene, and the ways we are forging the future with our focus on developing science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

Approximately 150 out-of-town (some out of province) delegates will be in attendance. They will all go home with a strong behind-the-scenes impression of what makes Prince George tick, and where it is headed. They will also leave behind their own impressions as they take part in a number of conference discussions aimed at improving everyone’s operations in the museum and gallery industry. It is the one time each year that all these facilities come together to share best practices, talk over the tricks of the trade, and explore how all the cultural institutions of BC can improve together.

Local business

2024 Business Excellence Awards winners announced

1h ago

Timberwolves Basketball

Timberwolves debut Brownridge Court for home opener

13h ago

CANADA WEST

UNBC Timberwolves to host Canada West basketball tilts on Sunday

Nov 03, 2024

Some of the topics on the Prince George agenda touch on ways to engage the public in each institution’s programming, project management, Indigenous repatriation, how to work together between area facilities on regional storytelling, how to improve diversity on governance boards, challenges and solutions for small institutions, and many more.

The thickest thread running throughout the AGM, however, is the topic of language. The theme of this year’s conference is Spoken Words, Shared Stories, recognizing the important discussion, communication, education, and social role that cultural institutions play. 2019 is also the International Year of Indigenous Languages. At a time when Indigenous culture is being challenged by the loss of native tongues, museums are places where there can be some taking back of lost social ground. One of the strongest muscles in the cultural body is language. First Nations all across the province are grappling with one of the harshest realities of the Residential School system and other colonial policies: Indigenous languages were deliberately oppressed and many now stand on the brink of extinguishment.

As part of reconciliation efforts, stimulating and facilitating the connection to Indigenous language is a role museums, galleries, and science centres are embracing. For some of the First Nations of the province, it is already too late; for others, now is a critical time to pass mother dialects on to future generations. Reestablishing fluency with regional dialects is considered a rich element for reestablishing thriving and self-sustaining communities, with radiant effects for all as well as an individual First Nation.

To mark the importance of the AGM and its time-sensitive theme, The Exploration Place will be hosting Our Living Languages: First Peoples’ Voices in BC., a beautifully designed exhibition from the Royal BC Museum and First Peoples’ Cultural Council that celebrates the resilience and diversity of Indigenous languages in the face of change. Through interactive stations, video, and audio, Our Living Languages provides visitors with the opportunity to learn more about the history of disrupted languages in BC, the complexity of these languages, and the people–and entire communities–that are working tirelessly to document and revitalize them.

Our Living Languages: First Peoples’ Voices in BC will be exhibited in conjunction with an in-house exhibition on beloved local Lheidli T’enneh First Nation Elder Mary Gouchie, who passed away earlier this year, leaving a massive historic legacy. Passing on her first language to younger generations was one of Gouchie’s passions. Mary was instrumental in the recovery and documentation of the written and spoken Lheidli T’enneh dialect of Dakelh.

Both exhibits will be showcased in conjunction with Hodul’eh-a: A Place of Learning, the Exploration Place’s permanent installation dedicated to the history and culture of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation on whose territory all of Prince George is situated.

Among the conference sessions being presented are: Building Indigenous Interpretation at Barkerville, Reconciliation in Historic Spaces: Moving Forward From a Colonial Past, The Indigenous Repatriation Handbook 101, as well as a presentation by Tracy Calogheros and Alyssa Leier from The Exploration Place alongside Lheidli T’enneh members Josh Seymour and Elissa Gagnon, entitled Nawhulna: The Time is Right. This session will discuss a shift in the way a regional museum was thinking, and how it was working with and representing the First Nation in whose territory it is located, the challenges associated, as well as collaborative solutions that have worked for them.

When the BC Museums Association arrives in Prince George this fall, the delegates, guest speakers, their families, and other attendees will be welcomed with a hearty “hadih” and bid farewell with a sincere “nenachadahdlih” to say thank-you, and “nanahoost’en si” to invite them back again soon.