Victoria, BC – What does a reimagined Royal BC Museum look like to the people of this province?
That’s the question the provincial museum and archives is asking as it announces a range of public engagement initiatives this week as part of Phase 2 of its community engagement process.
Through a series of community conversations, online information sessions, interactive museum tours, and booths at various community events across the province, the Royal BC Museum will be asking people to share their ideas, thoughts, and perspectives. The museum is also launching a new, province-wide online survey giving everyone the opportunity to help reimagine the 136-year-old hub of history and culture.
“The Royal BC Museum truly belongs to the people of British Columbia, so we’re committed to ensuring people from all corners of the province feel welcomed, included, and represented by their museum and archives,” said Tracey Drake, Acting CEO, Royal BC Museum. “It is so important for everyone to have the opportunity to participate in this process and we’re really looking forward to hearing the thoughts and ideas from people across British Columbia.”
Throughout this important period of public engagement, the Royal BC Museum is especially interested in learning from participants their thoughts and ideas regarding:
- Buildings, spaces, and facilities: A physical and cultural space that welcomes and reflects all people in British Columbia.
- Indigenous Reconciliation and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) implementation: Collaborating on Indigenous representation in the museum’s exhibitions and institutional culture, and building on the repatriation and reconciliation processes.
- Diversity and representation: Ensuring all cultural and social perspectives are part of the future, with thoughtful and meaningful representation.
- Inclusion and accessibility: Making the museum, its facilities, and its programs more inclusive and accessible to all visitors.
Phase 2 of community engagement is part of a multi-year, province-wide process to engage with and learn from the public, from essential partners, and from First Nations, Urban Indigenous, Inuit, and Métis communities on how they envision the future of the museum. The questions being asked in Phase 2 are based on the themes and concerns identified by participants of Phase 1 (January―May 2023).
Questions will also focus in part on the primary museum site in Victoria. The current buildings housing the museum, archives, collections, offices, IMAX Victoria, and other assets have been determined to be seismically deficient. Through these public consultations, residents will be asked to offer their thoughts on whether the current museum buildings should be replaced or renovated, or some combination of the two.
While the museum is seeking the input of all people in the province, special efforts are also being made to connect with First Nations, Urban Indigenous, Inuit, and Métis peoples, the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) community, 2SLGBTQIA+ groups, youth, people with accessibility and disability needs, schools, educators and students, business partners, and special interest groups, such as mental health associations.
The community engagement is expected to be complete by winter 2025.
For a full list of events and for more information on the engagement process, please visit: https://rbcm.ca/engage
To take the survey, please visit: https://rbcm.ca/survey
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About the Royal BC Museum
The Royal BC Museum explores the province’s human history and natural history, advances new knowledge and understanding of BC, and provides a dynamic forum for discussion and a place for reflection. The museum and archives celebrate culture and history, telling the stories of BC in ways that enlighten, stimulate and inspire. Located in Victoria on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations), we are a hub of community connections in BC—on-site, off-site and online—taking pride in our collective histories.
