Exhibits
Enjoy our array of engaging online exhibits telling powerful stories of North Vancouver. Visit the museum in the heart of Lower Lonsdale Thursday to Sunday.
AT THE MUSEUM
From Pictographs to Posterboards
Elementary and high school students from the Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation, Eslha7an Learning Centre, and Kenneth Gordon School write about their role models, including ancestors and community members alive today.
MONOVA’s Indigenous Cultural Programmers Tsawaysia Spukwus (Alice Guss) and Senaqwila Wyss worked closely with teachers and students on this exhibit as part of our Coast Salish programming.
Look for the exhibit in the Administration hallway just off the permanent gallery .
Coast Salish programming is generously supported by BMO Financial Group.
AT THE ARCHIVES
Re-Imagining the Archives
This exhibit is a collaboration between North Vancouver students in the Artists for Kids Studio Art Academy and Emily Carr University of Art & Design students working with Patio Press.
The students were asked to select a photo from the collection of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver and produce a creative response to it, through the process of linocut printmaking.
15 prints are on exhibit at the Archives.
Please use Booking Calendar on Archives page to arrange a visit.
Online
NATURE AS OUR TEACHER: OUR COAST SALISH WORLD
MONOVA is pleased to include a number of commissioned artworks within the museum building.
On the windows of the north and east side of museum find a series of colourful, translucent decals created by local Indigenous artists Mi kw’achi7m (Marissa Nahanee) of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation and Skokaylem (Zac George) of Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation.
Working with the theme, Nature as Teacher: Our Coast Salish World, the artists created images inspired by North Vancouver’s natural environment and local Indigenous creation stories.
Read the stories and view the artwork online.
Online
Skis upon Seymour’s Slopes: Mapping Mt. Seymour
The Archives of North Vancouver’s new online exhibition “Skis upon Seymour’s Slopes: Mapping Mt. Seymour” explores Mt. Seymour’s extensive winter history through stories, photographs and film.
Though Historypin, you can wander around a map of Mt. Seymour and take a tour through time.
Read more about the project on our Inlet post by Alec Postlethwaite, Archives and Community Engagement Intern.
Online
MONOVA: Stories of Belonging on the North Shore
Through dramatic monologues, storytelling and song, this virtual tour of the new MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver will introduce you to a few people who have called the North Shore home. Highlighting belongings, artifacts and images found in both the new Museum and the Archives, MONOVA’s Actor-Interpreters and Indigenous Cultural Programmers will share a collection of heart-touching stories — stories of firsts, stories of struggles, and stories of connection.
This tour can be accessed on either the VR Voyage platform or by QR code in the Museum of North Vancouver.
Teacher’s kits are available for those interested in incorporating this virtual reality performance into the classroom. Stories of Belonging Teacher’s Kit
Online
An Archival View: History of Photography on the North Shore [1860-2021]
The Archives of North Vancouver presents a rare opportunity to view vintage photographic prints that capture the history of photography on the North Shore. Travel back in time with salted paper prints and daguerreotypes.
Learn more about photographic genres and our evolving relationship with creating, collecting and publishing photographs with this online version of the 2021- 2022 exhibit.
Capture Festival 2022 Selected Exhibition
Online
ENCOUNTERS WITH PUBLIC ART: Decolonizing Literacies of Self, Place, and Education
What is your connection to this place and its history? How does who you are affect how you experience the world around you?
Capilano University students from the School of Education & Childhood Studies explore these questions and their roles as future educators in this exhibit that looks at the decolonization of place through explorations of self and public art.
Online
ARTISTS IN THE ARCHIVES
The Archives of North Vancouver is excited to partner with Handsworth Senior Art Studio students to reimagine and represent the past. Tasked with creating an artwork that embodies a historical and contemporary mashup, the students have produced images that transform archival photographs and introduce new cultural perspectives.
Online
BETWEEN SCIENCE AND THE SUBLIME:
Neal Carter’s 1920s Mountaineering Photography Albums
Born in Vancouver in 1902, Neal Marshall Carter started climbing in 1920 and spent the next thirty-five years mapping the Coast Mountains of British Columbia.
This exhibition showcases one of Carter’s personal photography albums. Full of intriguing photographs of life in the mountains, this 72-page album shows not only the scenery but the camaraderie, lifestyles and adventures of early 1900s mountaineers.
Today’s technology allows you to “flip the pages” of the full album seeing the original composition of the photographs and the author’s artistic embellishments.
Online
A Landmark Transformed
100 Years Serving The Community
2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the remarkable building originally constructed as the fourth Lynn Valley School and later restored and adapted for reuse as the Archives of North Vancouver. To celebrate the history of this stunning heritage building, an oral history project was launched to collect and preserve personal recollections of time spent at Lynn Valley School and the restoration process.
Online
Women & Wartime:
DEFENDING NORTH VANCOUVER 1939 -1945
Explore the extraordinary efforts of women and youth to defend North Vancouver and contribute during wartime. Discover unique archival records that reveal the thoughts and feelings of earlier generations of North Vancouver residents during the Second World War. Learn about the events that happened at home and how they shaped the future of our community.
Online
Through the Lens of Jack Cash, 1939-1970
Explore the North Shore and the history of photography through the lens of Jack Cash, one of North Vancouver’s most accomplished photographers. The Archives’ new exhibition, Through the Lens of Jack Cash: 1939-1970, celebrates Cash’s contribution to Canadian photography, from his initial work within the social documentary tradition to his focus on the beauty of British Columbian landscapes. Featuring Jack Cash’s original black & white and hand-tinted photographs, and photography equipment from the 1930s onward, visit the exhibition to rediscover the North Shore through a photographer’s eye.
This event is part of the 2020 Capture Photography Festival’s Selected Exhibitions Program.
Online
Recollections of Lynn Valley School
Part of the oral history program available at the Archives of North Vancouver, “Recollections of Lynn Valley School” is a Historypin project that uses online mapping and personal recollections to engage audiences in the power of storytelling.
The topics discussed and the memories shared reveal the impact the building has had on the lives and education of Lynn Valley residents.
Online
Home Movies From North Vancouver
Experience a World War 2 war bond rally at The Shipyards, climb mountains with Neal Carter, take a ride on a North Vancouver street car, and learn how to digitize your home movies with Kendra Tubbs from the North Vancouver City Library.
This event was part of Culture Days
Online
Pulling With My Ancestors: Səl̓ílwətaɬ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh War Canoe Racing
A rare insight into the history and continued practice of canoe racing and its spiritual significance for the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations.
Canoe culture has been a part of the Indigenous Coast Salish Peoples’ ways since time immemorial. Canoe racing is more than a sport – it’s a way of life. When you are on the water you are one with the ancestors, every stroke, every time you put your paddle in the water, it is a prayer, a connection to the ancestors.
This film was researched and curated by Young Canada Works intern Meghan Ormandy.
Coast Salish programming is generously supported by BMO Financial Group.
Online
VOICES AND VIEWS
Voices & Views is an online exhibit that highlights the experience of living and working in this dynamic place. Hear what a group of local teens and seniors have to say about life in North Vancouver.
Online
MOUNTAIN LIGHT: PHOTOS FROM THE BCMC COLLECTION
Climb to British Columbia’s highest peaks and view stunning landscapes captured by some of the BC Mountaineering Club’s greatest photographers. From snapshots to hand-painted glass slides, Mountain Light displays a century of mountaineering artistry.
Online
CLIMBING TO THE CLOUDS: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF BC MOUNTAINEERING
Ramble through more than one hundred years of mountain adventure in southwest British Columbia. Soar above the mountains, tour the times, rummage through the climber’s kit, watch original videos, and hear remarkable stories of personal feats, historic events, and outdoor adventures.
Online
THE GREAT CUT
View the NVMA archives’ unique collection of photos depicting the early days of logging in our community. Timber transformed the landscape, drove the economy, and shaped the North Shore we know today.
Online
UNLOCKING NORTH VANCOUVER HISTORY
A number of years ago, the NVMA partnered with the McCord Museum of History (Montreal) to present a unique approach to online learning. The program, then titled Keys to History has been updated and renamed. As Unlocking North Vancouver History, it features virtual exhibits about four significant North Vancouver themes: Wilderness On Our Doorstep: Vancouver’s Mountain Playground; Building A Vancouver Icon: the Lions Gate Bridge; A Riveted Community: North Vancouver’s Wartime Shipbuilding; Moodyville: Legend and Legacy.
Online
North Van History Highlights
North Van History Highlights presents significant developments on the waterfront, in the community and in the parks and mountains that make North Vancouver a special place. At the bottom of this page, see our Did You Know? section and learn about some North Van high achievers!
Online
WALTER DRAYCOTT’S GREAT WAR CHRONICLE
As the 100th anniversaries of various events of WWI occur, visit NVMA’s blog, Great War Chronicle , to discover where Lynn Valley pioneer Walter Draycott was, and what he was doing during the conflict. Often in the thick of the action, he served as a sniper and military topographer. On this site we are posting, one hundred years to the day for 4 ½ years , each of Walter’s diary entries. Experience, with Walter, his day-to-day life in the trenches, as a soldier in World War I.
At Delbrook Recreation Centre
Defending North Vancouver
The Second World War transformed North Vancouver’s shipyards into essential war industries, but also potential targets for enemy attacks. This exhibit explores how civil authorities and regular citizens in North Vancouver prepared for potential attack and contributed to the war effort on the home front. From blackout drills to canning vegetables grown in Victory gardens, people of all ages supported the war effort and the significant industries in North Vancouver. Visit this display on the main floor of Delbrook Recreation Centre until June 2021.
Travelling Exhibits
Chief Dan George Travelling Exhibition Available
‘Chief Dan George: Actor and Activist’ launched at the former North Vancouver Museum and later was hosted at various locations including U’Mista Cultural Centre and the Sidney Museum. This exhibit is on display now at the Maplewood Flats until September 2021, and will then be available for loan to organizations around the province.
Originally developed by MONOVA, the exhibit focuses on Chief Dan George’s influence as an advocate for the rights of First Nations Peoples and his career as an actor. This touring exhibit draws on MONOVA’s archival and artifact collection, including paintings, photographs and memorabilia, and was developed in close collaboration with the Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation and the George Family.