The Musée de la civilisation, often directly translated in English-language media outside Quebec as the Museum of Civilization, is a
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
located in
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada. It is situated in the historic
Old Quebec
Old Quebec (french: Vieux-Québec) is a historic neighbourhood of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Comprising the Upper Town (french: Haute-Ville) and Lower Town (french: Basse-Ville), the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Administratively, Old ...
area near the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
. It was designed by architect
Moshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie ( he, משה ספדיה; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author, with Israeli, Canadian, and American citizenship. He is known for incorporating principles of socially responsible desi ...
, and opened its doors to the public on 19 October 1988.
The previous buildings of the ''Banque de Paris'' and the ''Maison Estèbe'', which were situated on Saint-Pierre street, were integrated in the museum's structure. Permanent and temporary exhibitions are held at the museum, usually related to
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
, and virtual exhibitions are also available. The institution also hosts ''Quartier des découvertes'' (Discovery Zone), geared towards children, and offers other services such as guided visits, a
French America
French America (), sometimes called Franco-America, in contrast to Anglo-America, is the French-speaking community of people and their diaspora, notably those tracing back origins to New France, the early French colonization of the Americas. Th ...
reference centre, shows, souvenir boutiques, a cafeteria, and a leisure room.
Images
File:Maurice Cullen - Paysage de l'Ile d'Orléans.jpg, Paysage de l'Ile d'Orléans
File:Louis-Jacques Casault.jpg, Louis-Jacques Casault
File:Museum of Civilization, Quebec.jpg, Winter 2005, Dieu-Tsar-Revolution exhibition
Human Remains Controversy
During the spring of 2021, ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' published an article by journalist
Kate Taylor
Kate Taylor (born August 15, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Boston, Massachusetts. She is the younger (and only) sister of renowned singer-songwriter James Taylor, a six-time Grammy winner.
Biography
Taylor was born ...
about research concerning the museum's large collection of human remains. This collection, on long-term loan from the provincial
Ministry of Public Security, includes more than one hundred body parts—such as tattooed skin from a twenty-nine-year old homicide victim named Mildred Brown—taken from the bodies of murder victims by
Dr. Wilfrid Derome during the early twentieth century.
[Jamie Jelinski, “‘Go and Take a Look at Millie Now’: Murder, Tattooed Remains, and Museum Ethics in Quebec,” in ''Museums and the Working Class'', edited by, Adele Chynoweth, pg. 74-87, London: Routledge, 2021]
Exhibitions
* ''Territoires'' (Territories)
* ''Le Temps des Québécois'' (People of Québec ... then and Now)
* ''Nous, les premières nations'' (Encounter with the First Nations)
Affiliations
The Museum is affiliated with: the
Canadian Museums Association
The Canadian Museums Association (CMA; french: Association des musées canadiens, ''ACM''), is a national non-profit organization for the promotion of museums in Canada. It represents Canadian museum professionals both within Canada and internat ...
, the
Canadian Heritage Information Network
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, and the
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) ...
.
See also
*
Culture of Quebec
The culture of Quebec emerged over the last few hundred years, resulting predominantly from the shared history of the French-speaking North American majority in Quebec. Québécois culture, as a whole, constitutes all distinctive traits – spiri ...
*
List of museums in Quebec
This list of museums in Quebec, Canada contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, s ...
*
Musée de l'Amérique française
*
Canadian Museum of Civilization
The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...
in
Hull, Quebec
Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadia ...
References
External links
Official website(English language)
''Musée de la civilisation'' Museums to Discover
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee de la civilisation
Museums in Quebec City
Old Quebec
History museums in Quebec
Moshe Safdie buildings
Museums established in 1984
1984 establishments in Quebec