The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (CMCP) (french: Le Musée canadien de la photographie contemporaine (MCPC)) was a

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

of Canadian contemporary

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

and

documentary photography Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional pho ...

. Founded in 1985 and affiliated to the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

(NGC), it was housed at the National Gallery of Canada, located at 380 Sussex Drive,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. The CMCP did not have a permanent home until it moved to its purpose-built site at 1 Rideau Canal in 1992. The Pavilion entrance building, which was opened on May 7, 1992, was originally proposed by architect Michael Lundhom, who adapted an old railway tunnel running alongside the Chateau Laurier. The museum ultimately was designed and executed by architects Rysavy Rysavy. The glass and concrete entrance from the street, reminiscent of the

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

leading into the National Gallery, lead patrons down to the main part of the museum which was located below street level. Its founding director and chief

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

was Martha Langford, who held those positions from 1985 until 1994. In 2009 it was announced that the CMCP, which had been closed temporarily in 2006, would be permanently closed. Its collections and program of exhibitions were absorbed by the National Gallery of Canada. In 2016, the CMCP's photographic collection was folded into the newly created Canadian Photography Institute (CPI).

Collection

The foundation of the CMCP's collection were a selection of photographs from the Still Photography Division of the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

. By 2005, it held about 160,000 photographic works including works by Canadian artists such as

Kelly Wood Kelly Schafer ( Wood, born 8 April 1981 in Dundee) is a Scottish-Canadian curler who has represented her Scotland and Great Britain on an International and Olympic level. After playing in the 2010 World Championships in Swift Current, Sask ...

Closure

On March 29, 2009 it was announced that the CMCP, which had been closed temporarily in 2006 due to a leak, would be permanently closed for conversion to committee rooms. Its collections and program of exhibitions have since been absorbed by the National Gallery of Canada. A campaign to maintain the CMCP at its purpose-built site was unsuccessful. The exhibitions are now showcased at the National Gallery of Canada. As of 2016, the CMCP's photographic collection has been folded into the newly created Canadian Photography Institute (CPI).http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/canadian-photography-institute-1.3339738 and "Not only does the institute, financed in part by Scotiabank, include more than 50,000 prints and 145,000 negatives from the NGC's existing holdings and those of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (which upon its closing in 2009 was amalgamated with the NGC)" quoted from 'Canadian Photography Institute aims to be a centre of photographic study, display', August 26, 2016 Globe and Mail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/canadian-photography-institute-a-great-coming-together-of-resources/article31513827/

Affiliations

The Museum was affiliated with:

, CMA,

CHIN The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a we ...

, and

Virtual Museum of Canada The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...

Notes

References

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External links

National Gallery of Canada website
*Campaign to save the CMCP from closure: {{authority control Art museums and galleries in Ontario Museums in Ottawa Photography museums and galleries in Canada 1985 establishments in Ontario Art museums established in 1985 Defunct museums in Canada 2009 disestablishments in Ontario Art museums disestablished in 2009