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Handing Down Our History
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and Bow
Valley Literacy Program Literacy Project, Banff, Alberta 
Thirty-three learners shared their personal histories at the Whyte
Museum in this recent "Reading The Museum" demonstration
project. Over the course of several months these second-language
students wrote about and visually documented memories, which were then
displayed side-by-side in an exhibition at the Whyte. Their work was
also shown at the Canmore Public Library. As Barbara Parker, the
initiator of the project, reports: "The museum wanted to validate
the stories and experiences of students in this part of the community
which presently is not represented in the museum." As evidenced
by the accompanying visuals, this aim was certainly realized. A full
report on this project will appear in the next newsletter.
Literacy as performance
Literacy Session at the 1999 Conference: "People,
Power Passion: Museum Performance in the Twenty-First Century"
Plan to attend the CMA Annual Conference in Toronto from April 28 to
May 3 and participate in the session on literacy. In keeping with the
conference theme, the session will explore several performance aspects
of the "Reading The Museum" program. Speakers, including
learners from two demonstration projects, will share their experiences
of working with texts and artifacts. Participants will also consider
what museums can do to respond to the needs and interests of specific
groups and communities. In addition, the session will provide
information about "How To Read A Dinosaur and Other Museum Tales",
the program's newest publication. For more information about the
conference, contact the Canadian Museums Association, at Tel: (613)
567-0099, Fax: (613) 233-5438. For more information about the session
contact Lon Dubinsky, Coordinator of "Reading The Museum,"
at Tel: (514) 489-0571, Fax: (514) 489-5442.
Top: Installation of works by participants in Whyte Museum of
the Canadian Rockies/Bow Valley Literacy Project.
Left: Poster for the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies/Bow
Valley Literacy Project. |