The galleries of the CMHR

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/09/2014 (4015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Human Rights Over Time

The question “What are human rights?” is answered by people whose images are projected larger-than-life on a scrim — a cloth screen that appears opaque until lit from behind — extending the entire length of the room. Their stories about human dignity, respect and responsibilty are subtitled in English and French, with images of sign-language interpreters translating in both official languages. The opposite wall tracks the evolution of human rights, shining a light on 100 milestones — such as the principle of “do no harm” adopted by Hindus 4,000 years ago, to the UN’s 2007 Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The middle of the gallery contains artifacts, including a ballot box from South Africa’s first democratic election that led to the presidency of human-rights champion Nelson Mandela.

 

Indigenous Perspectives

The Indigenous Perspectives gallery looks at the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people and how their views of human rights and responsibilities are interwoven with the land and spirit. This gallery is woven into Gallery 1 with a circular theatre that resembles an inverted woven basket. The cinema has a 360-degree screen and seats up to 25 people for a six-minute film about indigenous views of humanity from around the world, including a dance scene from Bannock Point in the Whiteshell, the site of sacred rock petroforms. The gallery includes a wall hanging made by hundreds of children whose hands formed 14,000 beads made from clay beneath Winnipeg, honouring the memory of the city’s original inhabitants.

 

Canadian Journeys

The largest gallery, Canadian Journeys, starts in a theatre area with an introductory film and moves to a massive digital canvas screen telling 17 stories of human-rights experiences in Canada. It features the internment of Ukrainians and eastern Europeans during the First World War, and the story of Asian immigrants aboard the ship Komagatu Maru who were turned away from Canada in 1914. Overhead is a grid of images highlighting significant rights issues, including the lack of running water for aboriginal people. Empty red dresses represent the more than 1,000 indigenous murdered and missing women. Other displays look at the Inuit who were displaced by the federal government, residential schools, the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, the head tax on Chinese immigrants, the struggle for women’s rights, the experience of refugees and racial segregation in Nova Scotia.

 

Protecting Rights

In this gallery, Protecting Rights in Canada, this country’s most significant and rarely seen documents, including the Royal Proclamation of 1763, Treaty 1, and the Proclamation of the 1982 Constitution Act, are on display. The 251-year-old Royal Proclamation banned settlers from claiming land unless it had first been bought by the Crown from First Nations, establishing indigenous land rights. An animated “human-rights tree” shows how documents, declarations and the courts affect the rights of Canadians and how they’re constantly evolving. Visitors at interactive kiosks can re-judge 10 Supreme Court of Canada cases, including the Sue Rodriguez right-to-die case of 1993 and a 2005 battle involving a student who was the target of homophobic bullying.

 

Examining the Holocaust

Before entering the Examining The Holocaust gallery, visitors hear the ambient street sounds of Germany before the Second World War. Enormous black-and-white photos illustrate the stories of Holocaust survivors. The gallery highlights the conditions that led to the Holocaust, starting with prejudice followed by the abuse of state power. A backlit letter to Nazi commander Heinrich Himmler outlines a proposal to sterilize millions of Jews before using them for forced labour. The gallery shows how local people became complicit and shows details of the extermination of people who had disabilities. Other genocides are detailed, including the Holodomor and the Armenian Genocide. Interactive stations explain the meaning of the word genocide, and how cultural, physical and biological attacks are used to destroy groups of people.

 

Turning Points for Humanity

Meant specifically to temper the darkness of the previous Holocaust gallery, Turning Points focuses on the ideals adopted by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed in 1948, in the wake of the Second World War. A display holds one of the original declaration prints. Bright and open, the gallery examines the global effects of the declaration. Video flip-books use infrared technology where visitors can choose between two themes (two stories per theme). A real-life story is included to address each issue, ranging from religious freedom to LGBTTQ rights. A section for honorary Canadians includes Nelson Mandela and Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved some 100,000 Hungarian Jews during the Second World War. In addition, each visitor will receive a “pocket charter.”

 

Breaking the Silence

Cutting-edge video technology highlights an interactive study table that presents a world map with animated interface leading to graphics, text and photos relating to 16 large-scale atrocities, such as the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Rwandan genocide and Indian residential schools in Canada. Visitors can touch one of 24 projection displays to follow four narrative sections: build-up, violation, denial and distortion, and breaking the silence. In addition, there are personal-account stations featuring video and oral testimonies and a set of five shallow wall cases, each devoted to atrocities officially recognized by Canada as genocide. A small theatre shows a 12-minute film on the Holodomor in Ukraine (French and English alternating).

 

Actions Count

A youth-friendly gallery centred around interactive displays that use retro video designed to inspire action on human rights with everyday action in the community. The swipe technology presents role-playing videos offering different options — such as how to start an anti-bullying campaign at school and racism and poverty faced in inner-city neighbourhoods — including options and objectives. Each of the scenarios was developed working with educators. The gallery also includes real-life stories of ordinary Canadians working to uphold human rights. “We expect school groups and tours will have some (time to) dwell here,” noted Jodi Giesbrecht, the museum’s manager of research and curator.

 

Rights Today

This gallery features a video wall of current global human-rights issues, using recent stories as illustrations. The technology will allow for live tweets. The inaugural display will feature 30 stories illustrating five themes: children’s rights, indigenous rights, women’s rights, right to health, and labour rights. For example: Syrian refugees coping with hardships, fear for families, and a slum leather tannery in Dhaka. Another feature is an exhibit of everyday objects such as the cellphone, coffee beans, cooking oil, cosmetics and plastic bags, which all present human rights challenges. A media literacy theatre, which seats 15, explores the critical role of the media in shaping (for better or worse) human-rights issues. A wall-mounted display features stories of individual or groups of human-rights defenders.

 

Expressions

The only changeable gallery will initially feature PEACE, adapted from the original version at the Canadian War Museum. The travelling exhibition is organized under three themes represented by historical events; negotiate, organize and intervene. Negotiate explores the key role played by former prime minister Lester B. Pearson, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace (1957), in resolving the 1956 Suez Crisis, including the establishment of the first United Nations Security Force. Organize examines the different reactions of Canadians to the global challenge of living with nuclear weapons using key events such as the Diefenbunker and testing of American cruise missiles in Canada. Intervene documents Canada’s intervention in Afghanistan, both in combat and state rebuilding and development.

 

Inspiring Change

The final gallery stands at the base of the elevators to the Tower of Hope and overlooks the Winnipeg skyline. The focus is People Making Change, an exhibit that uses art/objects that tell the story of ordinary people making extraordinary strides. Content includes: Prom Night in Georgia (2013), the first integrated prom organized at Wilcox County High School; Grandmothers for Solidarity, caring for millions of African children orphaned by AIDS, represented by a yarn tree that symbolized their hope. The exhibit also includes graffiti art as protest, in particular tagging and murals during the Arab Spring. The gallery also features music listening stations with a song list that includes U2 (Sunday, Bloody Sunday), A Tribe Called Red (Woodcarver), Aretha Franklin (Respect) and Cui Jian (Nothing to My Name).