The Réserve muséale de la capitale nationale
Its Mandate, Its Mission
Established in 1986, the Musée de la civilisation is the most recent provincial government museum in Quebec. Created following the National Museums Act, the Musée de la civilisation put an end to the long, heated debates between those in favour of a museum of history and ethnology, such as the Musée de l’homme d’ici, and, on the other side, proponents of a futuristic museum which would be resolutely turned towards the modern era, open to contemporary social debates, with an explicit cultural and educational mandate.
Rather than focusing on the uniqueness of the homme d’ici, the Musée de la civilisation was designed for people in all their guises, both the culturally specific and the universal. While the former museum was based on research and collections, the latter pictured itself as a centre of information dissemination and discussion, and sought to develop Quebecers’ social and cultural awareness through social debates, exhibitions, and cultural and educational activities. Rather than opting for a traditionalmuseum founded on history and ethnicity and based on collections of objects, a modern museum, aware of contemporary issues, open to all the citizens of Quebec and the world, but lacking any collections of its own, was created.
The Musée de la civilisation was expected to be open to contemporary concerns, to develop collaborations and to highlight our shared experience with others. In the Museum’s view, culture is dynamic and vibrant, ever-changing and without clearly defined borders. Wisely, however, the Ministry added to this new orientation – previously unheard of for a museum – more traditional rights, obligations and duties. Thus the Museum would also be expected to “ensure the preservation and development of the ethnographic collection and other representative collections of our civilization.”1
It therefore made way for a collection, admittedly with some initial reservations, then with growing interest as opportunities arose. Defining the goal and direction for the Museum’s collection soon became imperative. What should the function if an object be in the concept of the Musée de la civilisation? Could the current collection be adapted to this concept and what type of collection should be given priority?
The time had come to adapt the collection to Quebec’s contemporary reality and to contemporary knowledge in the social sciences. Originally ethnographic, the collection would become societal, the objects mirroring major historical, social and philosophical concerns of the late 20th century.
2), Quebec, Éditeur officiel du Québec, 1998.
