Experience the collection in a whole new way!
MOV in the City is a series of partnerships that share Vancouver’s stories outside the Museum itself, telling the city’s stories through local exhibitions that animate history! All these displays are open for the public to visit. Check out the map here for active MOV in the City locations, and click on the links below for more info and visiting hours.
If you manage a public, or semi-public space that you think would be a good fit for an MOV in the City partnership, fill in our Exhibition Proposal Application here, noting that you can host an MOV in the City location.
Gathering Strength:
A Coast Salish Art Installation at the Cadillac Fairview Building
Currently on View at Granville Square, 200 Granville Street
This installation in the Cadillac Fairview Building, Granville Square, located at 200 Granville Street explores the history of colonial silencing and the re-emergence of Coast Salish Art traditions that began in the late 1970s. Selected artworks also feature Coast Salish design elements—circles, crescents and trigons—and demonstrate a sense of aesthetics that values balance, symmetry and naturalistic forms.
Time Capsule at The Post
Currently on view in the Atrium at The Post, 658 Homer Street
In 1955, work began on a new post office for the growing city of Vancouver. Buried at the foot of the 4.9-metre carved granite postman by Paul Huba lay a time capsule that was placed on November 29, 1955.
What was in that time capsule? The Museum of Vancouver curated a display in the atrium at The Post that showcases the contents of the time capsule. Including an enlarged newspaper with the caption: “Years from now, when the building is outmoded, someone will read all about the 1955 Grey Cup.”
Inclusive and Welcoming City Hall
Currently on view in the Third Floor Lobby at Vancouver City Hall
The Third Floor Lobby at Vancouver City Hall is where the public gathers before City Council meetings, and serves as the anteroom to Council Chambers, city councillors’ offices, and the mayor’s office. In 2020, MOV worked with City staff to create a space more representative of the diverse communities who call Vancouver home.
Objects from the collection at MOV, such as the kirpan of an early Sikh settler and a bronze medal from the third Gay Games held in Vancouver in 1990, are now on view alongside gifts to City from a number of foreign diplomats. The amalgamation of objects and gifts to the City speaks to the number of engaged citizens and community groups who continually advocate for a better Vancouver that is more inclusive, progressive, and environmentally minded.
Reconciled Futures Art Installation
Located at the 63rd Avenue and Yukon Street green rainwater infrastructure plaza
In 2019, MOV partnered with the City of Vancouver Green Infrastructure Team to pilot a one-week Spring Break Art Camp for Indigenous youth. The 9 participants created designs that have been used for five public art installations at the rain garden at 63rd and Yukon.
These artworks were installed in a Rain Garden and Bioswale created by the Green Infrastructure team at 63rd and Yukon. This bio-retention plaza, captures and cleans 2.2 million litres of polluted street run-off each year, filtering it where it falls. By keeping this water out of the storm sewers, this project reduces combined sewer overflows and contamination of local waterways.
Currently on view at the Vancouver Convention Centre
Two Gitxsan Poles and one Kwakwaka'wakw Pole from the Museum of Vancouver Collection are currently on loan to the Vancouver Convention Centre. These poles can be viewed on the convention level of the east building in the main atrium area.
The Sisaxolas Pole was carved by Kwaguʼł / Kwikwasutinux artist, Charlie James (Yakuglas) for Chief Sisaxolas, Alex Morgan, Head Chief of the Gwawaʼenux̱w people at Hegam’s, also known as Drury Inlet or Hopetown.
Gitxsan artist, Wah Yooksgm Hayda (Art Sterritt), carved both of the Gitxsan totem poles in 1972 at the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art at Ksan village, in Hazelton British Columbia. Both, made of red cedar, were the first the master carver created in his life. He has now made nearly 40.
A Seat at the Table - Chinese Canadian Museum of BC
August 15, 2020 - March 26, 2023
Sister exhibition at the Hon Hsing Building in Chinatown - 27 E Pender
Open: Thurs – Sun, 10am – 5pm
Presented by the Chinese Canadian Museum Society of BC
Admission is free. We recommend booking tickets in advance online.
*Please note that this sister exhibition is separate from MOV’s upcoming feature exhibition that share the same name. You are not required to purchase an MOV Admission to view this exhibition.
Located in the heart of Chinatown, on the first floor of the Hon Hsing building, this first installment of A Seat at the Table offers a unique encounter with personal stories of Chinese Canadians. These snapshots from people’s lives show how Chinese migrants and their descendants have found ways to earn a living, challenge systemic racism, connect with others, survive and thrive through hope and resilience.
A Seat at the Table: Chinese Immigration and British Columbia is the inaugural project of the newly established Chinese Canadian Museum Society of BC. This temporary exhibition was co-curated by the Museum of Vancouver and University of British Columbia, and supported by the Province of British Columbia and City of Vancouver. Its curatorial features are presented in trilingual English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese.
Gastown Murals of Gratitude
July 2020 - September 2020 in Gastown
As a direct response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, this grassroots initiative quickly gained momentum as Gastown’s local businesses came together to provide boarded-up storefronts as a canvas to local artists. The acrylic odes are testament to the influence the frontline staff has had on our community and a reminder that we are all in this together.
The outdoor gallery honours Canada's healthcare heroes and showcases the plywood murals created by over 20 artists for the shops of Gastown earlier this year.
Chinese Canadian Museum Office Pocket Gallery
November 2019 - June 2020 at the Chinese Canadian Museum Office
The Museum of Vancouver has partnered with UBC to bring the Chinese Canadian Museum project office to life with a curated pocket gallery supported by the B.C. government and the City of Vancouver.
Located at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver, the project office includes the pocket gallery, an exhibition produced by Museum of Vancouver (MOV) and curated by Denise Fong (UBC doctoral candidate focused on Chinese Canadian history in B.C.), Viviane Gosselin (Curator of Contemporary Culture at MOV) and Henry Yu (UBC Professor of History). The Planning Office and Pocket Gallery aim to familiarize the public with the CCM planning and encourage visitors to inquire about the themes and programs under consideration.
Neon in the City: Lumiere Festival 2019
November 1 - 3, 2019 during Lumiere Festival at šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square
We’ve recently partnered with QuadReal Properties to restore 3 iconic neon signs will be on display from November 1 – 3 at šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square, formerly the North Plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery, during Lumière. The signs will move to The Post, one of the most ambitious heritage redevelopment projects in Canada’s history taking shape at the site of the former Canada Post building in downtown Vancouver, for final installation as the project nears completion in late 2022!
The Dress Circle: Fashion for the Symphony 1918 - 2018
October 11, 2018 - March 13, 2019 at the Orpheum Theatre
Museum of Vancouver (MOV), Vancouver Civic Theatres (VCT), and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) proudly present The Dress Circle: Fashion for the Symphony 1918 - 2018, a collaborative exhibition featuring ten fashion statements from the last century, on display at the Orpheum Theatre starting October 11, 2018. Curated by Ivan Sayers and Claus Jahnke, the installation features 10 gowns and explores what women might have worn over the last century attending the VSO.