Where People

59 Pages·2004·3.37 MB·English

WhereP eople
and History
Come to Life
03 04
> ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION CORPORATION
CA NADIAN M USEUM OF CIVI LIZ ATION > CANADIAN WAR MUSEU M
03>04
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION CORPORATION
CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION > CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM
Canadian Museum of Civilization
100 Laurier Street
P.O.Box 3100,Station B
Gatineau,Quebec
J8X 4H2
www.civilization.ca
Information:[phone]/1-800-555-5621
Teletype (TTY):[phone]
Group Reservations:[phone]
Facility Rentals:[phone]
Members of the Museum:[phone]
Volunteers:[phone]
Financial Supportfor the CMC Development:[phone]
Cyberboutique:www.civilization.ca
Canadian War Museum
330 Sussex Drive
Ottawa,Ontario
K1A 0M8
www.warmuseum.ca
Vimy House
221 Champagne Avenue North
Ottawa,Ontario
K1R 7R7
Information and Other Services:[phone]/1-800-555-5621
Fax:[phone]
Friends of the Canadian War Museum:[phone]
Passing the Torch Campaign:[phone] or 1-800-256-6031
www.passingthetorch.ca
Museum of New France
Creator of the Virtual Museum of New FranceTM
www.vmnf.civilization.ca
Published by Corporate Communications
Public Relations and Publishing Division,Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
A printed version of this annual reportis available upon request:[phone]
Table of Contents
>
2> Message from the Chair Sharing Knowledge and Expertise>
4> Presidentand CEO’s Report 30> Travelling exhibitions
30> Publications
The Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation> 31> Articles and presentations
6> Mandate 31> Civilization.ca
8> Highlights 32> IMAX® Theatre
9> Corporate governance 32> Musical heritage on CD
10> Meeting our objectives 32> Outreach atthe Canadian Children’s Museum
14> Upcoming challenges 32> History atthe Canadian Postal Museum
Strengthening Financial and Operational Viability>
> THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION 33> Boutiques
33> A new call centre
Promoting Canadian Identity and World Cultures> 33> Maintenance of building infrastructure
16> Permanentexhibitions 34> The Corporation’s guides
18> New special exhibitions 34> Human resources
21> Virtual exhibitions 34> Volunteers
Preserving Our Heritage> 35> Marketing and public relations
22> Acquisitions 37> Fundraising activities
22> Incoming and outgoing loans 38> Exhibitions
22> Artifactconservation
23> Repatriation
23> Aboriginal Training Programme in Museum Practices > CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM
23> Research
25> Archives and documentation The new CWM>
26> Preserving our postal heritage 43> Construction
43> Exhibition development
Public Programmes for Everyone>
27> Enhancing visitors’experience 44> New special exhibitions
28> FirstPeoples programming 45> Preserving military heritage
28> Special series
29> Dramamuse Public programmes>
29> Programmes for students 46> Film and Lecture series
29> New volunteer interpreter programme 46> Special events
29> Learning atthe Canadian Children’s Museum 47> Educational programmes
29> Partnerships with the Canadian Children’s Museum
29> Public programmes atthe Canadian Postal Museum 48> Sharing knowledge
49> Public relations
50> Exhibitions
51> Donors and sponsors
Financial Statements>
Chair(cid:213) s Message
2>
Two museums with > As national museums of social and military
history, the Canadian Museum of Civilization
multiple voices
and the Canadian War Museum face a
challenge highly symbolic of our country
itself: how to illustrate identity and relate
history in a way that reflects our extent,
complexity and diversity.
Under the strong direction of President and CEO,Dr.Victor
Rabinovitch,the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
has undertaken to respond to this challenge by adopting an
approach of presenting diverse points of view on the country(cid:213)s
development.Dr.Rabinovitch calls this (cid:210)a multiplicity of voices.(cid:211)
A member of the Board of Trustees from
the very beginning of the Corporation, The Canada Hall, our most popular permanent exhibition,
tells the story of Canada from the social and economic
Claudette Roy served as Vice-Chair for
developmentangle.Itengages visitors in a journey through
four years before her appointmentas Chair in November 2003. time and across physical distances, enabling them to
encounter various regions and historical periods, from the
An educator by profession, Ms.R oy spent most of her career
Atlantic to the Pacific, from the early whale hunts to the
arrival of Asian immigrants.During the pastyear,we added
teaching Social Studies atthe senior level in French immersion
two new modules on communities and economic activities of
and French firstlanguage schools,and in school administration. Canada(cid:213)s West Coast, thereby completing a portrait
presented in the engaging style of the Canada Hall.
She has initiated many Francophone projects and institutions,
including Alberta(cid:213)s first publicly funded French first language Another voice now heard in a large permanent exhibition is
that of Aboriginal peoples from all parts of the country.The
school.She subsequently served as a member of the Minister of
opening of the FirstPeoples Hall in 2003 has enabled the telling
of the history of Canada seen and lived by the firstinhabitants
Education(cid:213)s task force that led to the creation of Francophone
of the continent. The First Peoples Hall, with over 200,000
school boards in the province. visitors during the pastyear,conveys four major themes that
are an essential elementof currentAboriginal identity:We are
still here,We are diverse,We contributeand We have an ancient
relationship with the land.
In 2005,another voice will be heard,with the opening of the
new Canadian War Museum (CWM). This is the most
importantcultural institution to open in the National Capital
Region in 15 years. It is by far the Corporation(cid:213)s most
important current project, to which we have dedicated
considerable financial and staff resources.
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What will be presented in the new CWM is the history of
Canada seen from the viewpointof military organization and
activity,and of the men and women who lived thathistory,
both athome and abroad.Faithful to its motto,THE SPIRIT OF
A COUNTRY,THE COURAGE OF ITS PEOPLE,the Canadian War
Museum will address itself to all Canadians,showing present
and future generations how the borders,values and even the
industrial organization of Canada have been shaped by the
realities of war.
Overall, the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the
Canadian War Museum are two national institutions in which
all Canadians can recognize themselves. The Corporation
undertakes to make the riches of its knowledge accessible to
the greatestnumber of people possible.Half of the visitors of
the Museums are Canadians from outside of the National
Capital Region and one-quarter are international visitors to
Canada.Additionally,once a year,the Board of Trustees travels
to a differentregion of the country.
In echoing the different peoples and regions that make up
this country,the Corporation seeks to reflectCanadian society
in its totality.We give expression to our culture and national
identity as they have evolved,and as they continue to mature.
We challenge our visitors to understand more fully what
being Canadian means.And,I think,we do this with much
success.
President and CEO’s Report
4>
>
A tough year ends The past year was one in which the Canadian
Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC)
on a high note
achieved exceptional success in the face of
some formidable challenges.
Like others in the Canadian tourism industry, the
Corporation’s two Museums were hard-hit in 2003 by
international visitors’fears aboutSARS.These fears were also
reinforced by other concerns for potential visitors,including
the news aboutBSE in Alberta,the war in Iraq,slowdowns at
the Canada/U.S.border and reductions in air flights.
During the peak period for SARS, cultural institutions and
Dr. Victor Rabinovitch has served as
tourism destinations in the National Capital Region and
President and Chief Executive Officer of elsewhere in the country saw a significant reduction in the
number of visitors.This negative trend continued throughout
the Canadian Museum of Civilization
the summer months — normally the busiestseason for visits
to Ottawa-Gatineau. As a result, the Canadian Museum of
Corporation since 2000.
Civilization (CMC) experienced a significant drop in visits
during the third quarter of 2003.Similar — and even deeper —
Previously, Dr. Rabinovitch held positions as Assistant Deputy
reductions were experienced by our colleagues across the
Minister with various federal departments. With Human country.
Resources Development Canada, he oversaw the Branch
The difficult summer and early autumn were followed by a
tremendous period of success during a season thatis normally
administering the national public pension programmes in
slow.We broke four monthly attendance records beginning in
Canada’s social security system. As Assistant Deputy Minister December,and thereby regained both visit totals and a large
portion of revenues lostfrom earlier in the year.
with the Departmentof Canadian Heritage,he was responsible
for a wide range of Canadian cultural programmes. We were overwhelmed by the public’s tremendous response
to AncientTreasures and the Dead Sea Scrollswhich opened
in December 2003. This exhibition — a once-in-a-lifetime
Before joining the federal public service,Dr.Rabinovitch was the
opportunity to see rare artifacts from the biblical period —
national head of Workplace Health and Safety with the attracted so many visitors that we had to extend our
weekend hours.We found thatvisitors took more time than
Canadian Labour Congress. He also served as an Executive
usual to view this exhibition,and our eightweek long lecture
Director in the Governmentof Manitoba. series,featuring invited experts on the Scrolls,was so popular
thateach lecture had to be delivered twice.
This record attendance was helped by the innovative way we
responded to a difficult climate. We developed a targeted
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promotion strategy,reaching out to both local audiences in To help us reach beyond the physical confines of our two
the National Capital Region, and to community groups in Museums,the CMCC uses printand electronic publications as
Canada and the United States with a special interest in information distribution tools. Last year, we gave extra
particular subjects.In other words,we brought information emphasis to producing book publications, and released 14
and encouragementdirectly to potential visitors in their own new titles in our Mercury Series,dedicated to research,or as
communities,and thereby promoted their decisions to come commercial co-publications.
see exhibitions of exceptional merit.
With the help of the Internet,visitors from around the world
Other exhibitions and public programming in 2003–2004 also accessed information through our Web site,Civilization.ca.
explored new ways to combine entertainment with solid The site received 6 million individual virtual visits,up from
learning.For Across Time and Tundra:The Inuvialuit of the 4.3 million the previous year.Among its many features,our
Canadian Arctic,we incorporated highly engaging interactive Web site hosts more than 90 virtual exhibitions,to which we
modules.These enabled visitors to learn Inuvialuitwords and add regularly.
phrases,to touch reproduction artifacts or to see themselves
dancing on a giantscreen alongside Inuvialuitdrum dancers. Travelling exhibitions are an essential activity to disseminate
knowledge. CMC and CWM exhibitions travel across the
In 2003–2004, Museum staff continued to add to our country, to both small and large museums, thus reaching
knowledge and understanding of Canada’s history and Canadians who live far from Ottawa-Gatineau.And to better
diverse cultures. Specialists undertook a great number of fulfill its national role, each year the Corporation lends
research projects, in fields such as ethnology, archaeology, approximately 700 objects from its collections to other
and history — both social and military.Many of these projects institutions.
are connected to the development of new exhibitions. An
excellent example is Presenza: A New Look at Italian- Visitor satisfaction assessed through our evaluation and
Canadian Heritage, which examines the history of Italian survey work continued to show a very high level of approval.
immigrants and their contributions to Canadian society. A satisfaction rate of 96 per centwas reported,and the total
Presenza’s curator and his research team carried outseveral number of visitors was 1,350,000, continuing the CMC’s
hundred interviews and collected artifacts from members of record as Canada’s most-visited Museum.The CWM received
Italian communities across Canada. a solid attendance of 116,000 visitors.While it is expected
thattourism in 2004–2005 will be somewhatstronger than
Research and writing are central aspects of the new Canadian in the last year, we are still in a period of uncertainty.
War Museum (CWM) project. Staff have worked to create Consequently, the Corporation will continue to seek
narratives,selectartifacts and collaborate with designers to innovative ways to promote its public programmes and
create the huge permanent exhibition that will form the exhibitions,while also maintaining a high level of activity in
heart of the new museum. The building project is being research and collection.Our future success will depend on our
carried outby a team led by Joe Geurts,Director of the CWM excellence in managing these fundamentals.
and Chief Operating Officer of the Corporation.This corporate
dimension is essential to the rapid pace achieved by this
amazing project— for funding,technical supportand Board
direction.The new CWM will change public understanding of
our military history,and itis already changing the skyline of
downtown Ottawa.
Canadian Museum of Civiliz ation Corpor ation
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Canadian Museum of Civilization
Corporation: Canada(cid:213)s national
museums of social, human and
military history
Originating in 1856 as a branch of the
Geological Survey of Canada,the Canadian
Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC) >Mandate
is a Crown Corporation established
The Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian
pursuantto the Museums Act,which came
War Museum have a core mandate of being centres for
into force on July 1,1990. collections,research and public information on the social,
military and human history of the country. The
The Corporation includes the Canadian Corporation(cid:213)s principal role is to help preserve and
Museum of Civilization (CMC) and the promote the heritage of Canada for present and future
Canadian W ar Museum (CWM). The generations,thereby contributing to the promotion and
Corporation is also responsible for the enhancementof our national identity.
managemento f the Virtual Museum of
Guiding principles
New France, composed o f virtual
The Museums(cid:213)work is guided by five essential principles:
exhibitions and on-line activities on the
history of Canada from 1534 to 1763.
1>
Knowledge
Museum activities focus on the creation and dissemination of
knowledge. Our research is rigorous and creative, thereby
>From top to bottom: Claudette Roy (Chair); Pierre contributing to new understanding. Our exhibitions and
Dufour (Vice-Chair);Mich(cid:143)le Alderton (Trustee);Joe programmes are knowledge-based and provide clear information
Geurts (Chief Operating Officer and Director and CEO to the public.
of the Canadian War Museum); Paul M anson
(Trustee); RobertJ .O jolick (Trustee); Mark O(cid:213)Neill 2>
Authenticity
(Corporate Secretary and Director,Strategic Planning,
and Acting Vice-President, Public Relations and Authenticity in our Museum means thatwe are truthful and
Publishing);Victor Rabinovitch (Presidentand CEO); comprehensive.We are committed to showing artifacts from
Marianna Simeone (Trustee);Claudia Simon (Trustee);
CMCC collections and from other public collections.
Harvey A. Slack (Trustee); Th(cid:142)r(cid:143)se Sp(cid:142)nard-Pilon
Authenticity involves communicating accurate information
(Trustee);Gloria Webster (Trustee).
Absent:Thelma Ann Brennan (Trustee) which is balanced and in context.
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3>
Coherence Visitor statistics
Coherence applies to all our Museums(cid:213)activities as we aim to be The CMC:a national and international audience
consistent,united in purpose and easily accessible.We strive for >Equal number of men and women
coherence in our research,exhibitions,programmes,services and >45 per centof all visitors have a bachelor(cid:213)s or
design,in our behaviour as teams,and in our use of the Museums(cid:213) graduate degree
physical spaces. >32 per centare Francophone and 68 per centare
Anglophone
4>Choice and respect >47 per centare Canadians from outside the
The collections, programmes and exhibitions administered National Capital Region
by our Museums reflect a wide range of people and subjects. >26 per centare from Ottawa-Gatineau
Making choices is necessary for good management: we >27 per centare from outside the country
can never include all themes, all perspectives, or all proposed
artifacts. Our choices are informed by respect: we will The CWM:well-educated,diverse visitors
notengage in activities or presentmaterials thatmightpromote >More than 40 per centof visitors have a
intolerance. bachelor(cid:213)s or graduate degree
>One-quarter have performed some type of
5>
Canadian perspectives military service
Our collections,programmes and exhibitions reflecta Canadian >64 per centare male
perspective. We present Canadian contexts, comments, or >80 per centare Anglophone
reactions on subjects of wider significance. This dimension >50 per centare from Ontario
reflects the fundamental Canadian commitment to democracy
in its political and social sense.
Canadian Museum of Civiliz ation Corpor ation
8>
> Highlights
The new Canadian War Museum:progress on schedule
Construction of the new building progressed on schedule.
Attendance: a record-breaking year Excavation of the site was completed during the spring,and
In 2003—2004,the Canadian Museum of Civilization welcomed concrete forms were raised during the summer. The
1,350,000 visitors. The Museum also set new attendance assembly of structural steel began in December. Over the
records for every month of the period from December 2003 winter,the concrete structure was completely enclosed,and
through March 2004.In these months,the critical success of work moved indoors. The new Canadian War Museum is
AncientTreasures and the Dead Sea Scrolls resulted in a 20 per scheduledto open in May 2005.
centincrease in visitors to the Museum compared to the same
period in the previous year. Fundraising:Passing the Torchsurpassed its goal
Passing the Torch,thefundraising campaign in supportof the
Special exhibitions: another successful year new Canadian War Museum, surpassed its $15 million
Over 315,000 people visited The Mysterious Bog People objective, making it the most successful fundraising effort
exhibition during its nine-month run that ended in ever for a federal cultural institution.
September 2003.Only four months after the opening,more
than 100,000 people had already seen the exhibition Ancient Collections:building on donations
Treasures and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Two major exhibitions Among several other important collections,the Corporation
developed by the CMC, Presenza: A New Look at Italian- received hundreds of mementoes left by mourners at Pierre
Canadian Heritage and Across Time and Tundra: The ElliotTrudeau(cid:213)s funeral.These objects,donated by the family
Inuvialuit of the Canadian Arctic, also generated great of the former Prime Minister,include cards made by children,
interestand attracted thousands of visitors. posters and other personal tributes.
Permanentexhibitions: a major landmark achieved Civilization.ca:sharing more knowledge on-line
In 2003, the CMC completed the installation of its largest Last year, the Corporation(cid:213)s Web site logged over 51 million
exhibition, the Canada Hall, adding two new sections on accessed pages.The CMCC also launched seven new virtual
Canada(cid:213)s Pacific Region:WestCoastCommunitiesand Pacific exhibitions.Together,the CMC and the CWM Web pages now
Gateway. hostclose to 100 on-line exhibitions.
Revenues:stable despite challenges
Total on-site revenues for the Corporation of $8.8 million
remained stable despite difficult times for the tourism
industry across Canada in 2003.