Pointe-à-Callière Museum
Encyclopedia
Pointe-à-Callière Museum is the Montreal
museum of archaeology and history located in Old Montreal
, Quebec
, Canada
. It was founded in 1992 as part of celebrations to mark Montreal's 350th birthday. Set atop the city's birthplace, the Museum shows collections of artefacts from the First Nations
of the Montreal region that illustrate how various cultures coexisted and interacted, and how the French
and British
regimes influenced the history of this territory over the years. Pointe-à-Callière has been recognized as a national historic site since 1998.
Since it opened, it has welcomed more than 350,000 visitors a year. Nearly 4.5 million people have come to the Museum since 1992. Pointe-à-Callière has been honoured with more than fifty national and international award
s.
Pointe-à-Callière's mission
is to safeguard and showcase Montreal's archaeological and historical heritage, to bring Montrealers and tourists from other parts of Canada and other lands to know and appreciate the Montreal of today and yesterday, and to forge bonds with local communities and regional, national and international networks concerned with archaeology, history and urban issues, for the benefit of our visitors.
Pointe-à-Callière safeguards and showcases archaeological remains from every period in the city's past. The archaeological sites it protects have produced one of the largest archaeological collections in Canada. The Museum's staff
has expertise in research
, conservation
, outreach activities and managing archaeology and history. In partnership with universities, it is conducting a research program on the city's archaeology and history, and its ethnohistorical collections include artifacts and document
s donated by Montrealers. The Museum’s mission also extends to the city's built and industrial
heritage. It endeavours to make Montrealers aware of their far-off and recent past
, their heritage of today and yesterday, and everyone's important role in preserving and promoting our collective heritage.
Along with its permanent exhibition
s, since it opened the Museum has presented more than thirty temporary exhibitions on theme
s relating to local and international archaeology, history and heritage, culture and artistic creativity, and multiculturalism
. Complementing this exhibition program are education
and outreach programs and cultural activities that introduce school
groups and the general public
to other aspects of archaeology and history. Pointe-à-Callière also holds a number of popular cultural activities for the public, ranging from musical performance
s to theatre
and demonstratio]ns, including lecture
s, debate
s and participation in Montreal, Quebec, cross-Canada and international events. Since it opened, the Museum has been working hand in hand with Native
and cultural communities. For ceremonies commemorating the Great Peace of Montreal
in 2001, the Museum’s main partners were aboriginal
groups from across Quebec
, the rest of Canada
and the United States
. Montreal's cultural communities are also the focus of many activities. All the Museum's actions are aimed at creating lasting links between newcomers and their host society and building awareness of the city's history and the vision and tenacity
of its founders, who made Montreal a city open to the world
.
Pointe-à-Callière has been extending its reach beyond its walls since 1996, beginning with Water In, Waste Out, its first travelling exhibition, presented at the Musée de la civilisation
(Quebec City
) and the Musée et sites archéologiques Saint-Romain-en-Gal (Vienne, France). In 1997, the Art and Archaeology exhibition gave 20 Montreal high school students a chance to exhibit their works at the Musée et sites archéologiques Saint-Romain-en-Gal. 1690: The Siege of Québec... The Story of a Sunken Ship has travelled to different locations in Quebec and internationally since 2000. France / New France. Birth of a French People in North America, which has already been presented in the Maritimes
, will soon be leaving on an international tour. In addition, Pointe-à-Callière has an exhibition on underground Montreal as part of a cultural route in the underground pedestrian corridors of the Quartier international de Montréal
.
’s home. The Museum is now entering a new phase in its development, as it moves toward putting these large-scale expansion plans into effect. The goal is to expose the Little Saint-Pierre River canalized by the William sewer, and the archaeological remains of St. Anne's Market, home to the Parliament of the United Province of Canada between 1844 and 1849. Visitors will be led to a new exhibition hall, with its entrance on McGill Street
, devoted to future international exhibitions on ancient civilizations and their cultures. This ambitious expansion will allow Pointe-à-Callière to give the district a touristic exhibition centre of national and international scope.
, CHIN
, and Virtual Museum of Canada
.
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
museum of archaeology and history located in Old Montreal
Old Montreal
Old Montreal is the oldest area in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, dating back to New France. Located in the borough of Ville-Marie, the area is bordered on the west by McGill St., on the north by Ruelle des Fortifications, on the east by Berri St. and on the south by the Saint Lawrence River...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It was founded in 1992 as part of celebrations to mark Montreal's 350th birthday. Set atop the city's birthplace, the Museum shows collections of artefacts from the First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
of the Montreal region that illustrate how various cultures coexisted and interacted, and how the French
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
and British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
regimes influenced the history of this territory over the years. Pointe-à-Callière has been recognized as a national historic site since 1998.
Since it opened, it has welcomed more than 350,000 visitors a year. Nearly 4.5 million people have come to the Museum since 1992. Pointe-à-Callière has been honoured with more than fifty national and international award
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
s.
Buildings
The Museum is a complex of historic buildings comprising:- Three archaeological sites: Pointe-à-Callière, Place Royale and 214 Place d'Youville - the archaeological field school - Fort Ville-MarieFort Ville-MarieFort Ville-Marie was a fortress outpost of France in North America. It is the historic nucleus around which the original settlement of Montreal grew.Given its importance, the site of the fort was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1924....
- A historic site: the birthplace of Montreal
- Montreal's first Catholic cemetery
- The William collector sewer
- A classified historic building: Montreal's first Custom HouseCustom House, MontrealThe Old Custom House is a building in Old Montreal. It is a National Historic Site of Canada.- Overview :Old Custom House, which dates back to 1836, originally housed Montreal's first custom house. It was designed by architect John Ostell and now houses the Pointe-à-Callière Museum's gift...
- A contemporary building: the Éperon building, designed by Dan HanganuDan HanganuDan Hanganu, CM is a Romanian-born Canadian architect. Based in Montreal, Quebec, he has designed a number of prominent Quebec buildings, including the new wing of the Pointe-à-Callière Museum, the HEC Montréal building, the concert Hall of Rimouski, the UQAM design school and several other...
. - An archaeological cryptCryptIn architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
: Place Royale - A heritageCultural heritageCultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
building: the former Youville Pumping Station - 165-169 Place d’Youville – a functional building: the Mariners House
- Vast archaeological collections (over a million objects)
Mission
Mission statement
A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...
is to safeguard and showcase Montreal's archaeological and historical heritage, to bring Montrealers and tourists from other parts of Canada and other lands to know and appreciate the Montreal of today and yesterday, and to forge bonds with local communities and regional, national and international networks concerned with archaeology, history and urban issues, for the benefit of our visitors.
Pointe-à-Callière safeguards and showcases archaeological remains from every period in the city's past. The archaeological sites it protects have produced one of the largest archaeological collections in Canada. The Museum's staff
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
has expertise in research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
, conservation
Conservation movement
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
, outreach activities and managing archaeology and history. In partnership with universities, it is conducting a research program on the city's archaeology and history, and its ethnohistorical collections include artifacts and document
Document
The term document has multiple meanings in ordinary language and in scholarship. WordNet 3.1. lists four meanings :* document, written document, papers...
s donated by Montrealers. The Museum’s mission also extends to the city's built and industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
heritage. It endeavours to make Montrealers aware of their far-off and recent past
Past
Most generally, the past is a term used to indicate the totality of events which occurred before a given point in time. The past is contrasted with and defined by the present and the future. The concept of the past is derived from the linear fashion in which human observers experience time, and is...
, their heritage of today and yesterday, and everyone's important role in preserving and promoting our collective heritage.
Along with its permanent exhibition
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
s, since it opened the Museum has presented more than thirty temporary exhibitions on theme
Theme (arts)
In the visual arts, a theme is a broad idea or a message conveyed by a work, such as a performance, a painting, or a motion picture. This message is usually about life, society or human nature. Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a work. Themes are usually implied...
s relating to local and international archaeology, history and heritage, culture and artistic creativity, and multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
. Complementing this exhibition program are education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and outreach programs and cultural activities that introduce school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
groups and the general public
General Public
General Public were a band formed by The Beat vocalists, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and which included former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Specials and The Clash...
to other aspects of archaeology and history. Pointe-à-Callière also holds a number of popular cultural activities for the public, ranging from musical performance
Musical performance
Musical performance may refer to:* Concert* Performance* Recital* Audition: a performance in front of a panel of judges* Concerto: a virtuoso solo work * Musical technique...
s to theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and demonstratio]ns, including lecture
Lecture
thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
s, debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
s and participation in Montreal, Quebec, cross-Canada and international events. Since it opened, the Museum has been working hand in hand with Native
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
and cultural communities. For ceremonies commemorating the Great Peace of Montreal
Great Peace of Montreal
The Great Peace of Montreal was a peace treaty between New France and 40 First Nations of North America. It was signed on August 4, 1701, by Louis-Hector de Callière, governor of New France, and 1300 representatives of 40 aboriginal nations of the North East of North America...
in 2001, the Museum’s main partners were aboriginal
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
groups from across Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, the rest of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Montreal's cultural communities are also the focus of many activities. All the Museum's actions are aimed at creating lasting links between newcomers and their host society and building awareness of the city's history and the vision and tenacity
Tenacity
Tenacity is the customary measure of strength of a fiber or yarn. In the U.S. it is usually defined as the ultimate strength of the fiber divided by the denier....
of its founders, who made Montreal a city open to the world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
.
Pointe-à-Callière has been extending its reach beyond its walls since 1996, beginning with Water In, Waste Out, its first travelling exhibition, presented at the Musée de la civilisation
Musée de la civilisation
The Musée de la civilisation is a museum located in Quebec City. It is situated in old Québec near the Saint Lawrence River...
(Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
) and the Musée et sites archéologiques Saint-Romain-en-Gal (Vienne, France). In 1997, the Art and Archaeology exhibition gave 20 Montreal high school students a chance to exhibit their works at the Musée et sites archéologiques Saint-Romain-en-Gal. 1690: The Siege of Québec... The Story of a Sunken Ship has travelled to different locations in Quebec and internationally since 2000. France / New France. Birth of a French People in North America, which has already been presented in the Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
, will soon be leaving on an international tour. In addition, Pointe-à-Callière has an exhibition on underground Montreal as part of a cultural route in the underground pedestrian corridors of the Quartier international de Montréal
Quartier international de Montréal
The Quartier international de Montréal or Montreal's International District is a district of the Ville-Marie borough of downtown Montreal that underwent a major urban renewal as a central business district in 2000–2003.-Purpose:...
.
Expansion project
Pointe-à-Callière was first built, back in the early 1990s. The Museum had plans to open up the William collector sewer and the remains of St. Anne's Market and the Parliament of the United Province of Canada. Recent archaeological digs have also brought to light the remains of Fort Ville-Marie and of Governor Louis-Hector de CallièreLouis-Hector de Callière
Louis-Hector de Callière or Callières was a French politician, who was the governor of Montreal , and the governor of New France from 1698 to 1703. He played an important role in defining the strategy that New France followed during the Queen Anne's War.De Callière was born in Thorigny-sur-Vire,...
’s home. The Museum is now entering a new phase in its development, as it moves toward putting these large-scale expansion plans into effect. The goal is to expose the Little Saint-Pierre River canalized by the William sewer, and the archaeological remains of St. Anne's Market, home to the Parliament of the United Province of Canada between 1844 and 1849. Visitors will be led to a new exhibition hall, with its entrance on McGill Street
McGill Street (Montreal)
McGill Street is a street in Montreal named after James McGill after whom McGill University is named. The former head office building of Canadian National Railway Company, built for its predecessor Grand Trunk Railway, still stands on McGill Street and is now occupied by Quebec government...
, devoted to future international exhibitions on ancient civilizations and their cultures. This ambitious expansion will allow Pointe-à-Callière to give the district a touristic exhibition centre of national and international scope.
Permanent exhibitions
- Where Montréal Was Born
- Montréal Love Stories – The Cultural Connection
- A multimedia show: Montréal, Tales of a City…
Major cultural activities
- Pointe-à-Callière’s Port Symphonies
- A Cultural Rendez-vous
- The 18th Century Public Market
- Halloween at Pointe-à-Callière
- Who is the Real Santa Claus?
Educational activities
- Exploring the Museum
- Growing up in Ville-Marie
- Life Stories
- Montréal, an Urban Kaleidoscope
- Young Explorers
- Water Ways
External links
- Official site: Pointe-à-Callière Museum
Affiliations
The Museum is affiliated with: CMACanadian Museums Association
The Canadian Museums Association is a national organization for the promotion of museums in Canada.The Canadian Museums Association is the national organization for the advancement of the Canadian museum sector, representing Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internationally. The...
, CHIN
Canadian Heritage Information Network
The Canadian Heritage Information Network is a Canadian government-supported organization that provides a networked interface to Canada's heritage, largely through the World Wide Web. It aims to give access to Canada's heritage for both Canadians and a worldwide audience, by supporting the...
, and Virtual Museum of Canada
Virtual Museum of Canada
The Virtual Museum of Canada is Canada's national virtual museum. With a directory of over 3,000 Canadian heritage institutions and a database of over 600 virtual exhibits, the VMC brings together Canada's museums regardless of size or geographical location.The VMC includes virtual exhibits,...
.