I just visited the McCord Museum for the first time, and I am utterly delighted. The McCord is a "public research and teaching museum dedicated to the preservation, study, diffusion and appreciation of Canada’s, Quebec’s and Montreal’s history". Having just moved to Montreal, I was excited to learn more about my new city! The museum's mission is to "celebrate our past and present life in Montreal– our history, our people, our communities", and this vision is even identified on the front doors of the building:

The identification of the museum's voices ("our" people, "our" stories) is one of the most exciting aspects of the museum. I go more in-depth here!

Here are some quick observations from my first encounter with the McCord:

ORGANIZATION

The museum is organized around permanent and temporary exhibitions. These exhibitions are independent and are clearly marked with unique visual identities. The two permanent exhibitions focus on clothing in First Nations culture and the history of Montreal as seen through neighborhoods. The three temporary exhibitions were very diverse, ranging from the art of Vittorio Fiorucci to a (trippy) circus of toys.

CULTURAL MEDIATORS

I was pleasantly surprised, as I entered the Montreal Points of View exhibition, to have an educator approach me to let me know that she was available if I had any questions. These cultural mediators are always present in the museum. Additionally, introductions of the exhibitions are offered daily at specific times, including on Wednesday evenings.

HOURS AND PRICING

The McCord Museum is open from 10am to 6pm on Tuesday to Sunday, and until 9pm on Wednesday nights- making it accessible in the week to those who work during the day.

Yet again, I find the admission fees to be too high. If I hadn't had my ICOM card, I would have had to pay $15! But the permanent exhibitions are free on Wednesday evenings.

IN-GALLERY INTERPRETATION

The interpretation tools in the galleries were very diverse, including wall texts, videos, wandering cultural mediators, and projections.

There was also a free app that I downloaded, but I wasn't able to access any of its content (maybe it's my phone?). This was disappointing as the Montreal Points of View exhibition has lots of pictograms on the labels indicating that the app offers more content.

The McCord offers free WiFi in the galleries, which enables visitors to search for additional information about the artworks on their own and share their visit on social networks (though I did not see any panels encouraging visitors to do the latter).

BILINGUAL

I guess this shouldn't be news to me anymore, but I am continually impressed by the quantity and quality of the bilingual texts in these Montreal museums!

Look at the McCord's permanent exhibitions in more depth here and here!

McCord Museum

Address: 690 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal ∣ Métro: Station McGill (Green Line) ∣ Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm, open until 9pm on Wednesday