Renewal Project
Renewal Project Overview
UBC Museum of Anthropology Renewal Project - "A Partnership of Peoples"
The UBC Museum of Anthropology is one of Canada's foremost museums, renowned for its Northwest Coast collections and collaborative approach to working with First Nations and other cultural communities. In order to extend its role as a public and research institution, we have just completed a major renovation and expansion project, increasing our size by 50%, and creating unprecedented opportunities for research, teaching, and public enjoyment. Budgeted at $55.5 million, the Renewal Project received $34.4 million in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund ($17.2 million each), plus from The University of British Columbia, UBC Faculty of Arts, and the Museum itself. Recently, MOA received a major gift of $5.5 million from the Koerner Foundation, Toronto, towards the Project. Approximately $5 million remains to be funded through public sector donations to ensure the project's overall success.
The Renewal Project includes our new Multiversity Galleries with location-sensitive information access terminals (the "MOACAT"), and a digital network (the Reciprocal Research Network) linking Northwest Coast collections in institutions worldwide. The project also entails exciting new exhibit galleries, visitor amenities, and state-of-the-art educational and public programming spaces, providing students, scholars, visitors, artists, and community members with unprecedented access to MOA's collections.
MOA's new facilities also include a Community Research Suite, consisting of an oral history language lab, a culturally sensitive materials research room, and a community lounge for visiting scholars and community members. Ethnographic and Archaeological Research Suites include laboratories specifically designed to enable research on material culture, and storage systems intended to house the collections in ways accessible to a variety of researchers. Our new exhibit areas incorporate state-of-the-art display techniques, interpretive displays, and computer work stations designed to enhance visitor access to existing and new knowledge about the collections.
The Reciprocal Research Network (RRN) constitutes a distributed network to enable collaborative research between museums and communities. Currently, the RRN links the Museum, B.C. First Nations communities, and major Canadian and international museums. It provides unparalleled access to research collections in North American and Europe and supports virtual knowledge development. For community researchers, the RRN revolutionizes access to images, objects, and information, and overcomes major existing barriers to cross-cultural research.
The Audain Gallery, a new 5,800 sq ft exhibition hall, enables MOA to bring major travelling shows to Vancouver, as well as to continue its long tradition of producing award-winning exhibitions, many in conjunction with local cultural communities. Dramatically re-designed public spaces enhance MOA's capacity to present innovative educational programming, special events, guided tours, the Native Youth Program, and services such as facility rentals and opportunities for filming and photography. Our elegant Museum Shop, known worldwide for it support of contemporary First Nations artists, has been much enlarged, and Café MOA has been installed for our visitors' pleasure.
Contacts:
Jennifer Webb
Communications Manager
Tel: 604.822.5950
Email: jenwebb@interchange.ubc.ca
Leslie Fields
Manager of Development, Renewal Project
Tel: 604.827.3515
Email: lfields@interchange.ubc.ca
