Road Trip: Canadian Museum of Human Rights
The Canadian Museum of Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg, Manitoba opened in September 2014. It’s one of just six national museums. (For those on the East Coast, I’ll point you to the Museum of Immigration in Nova Scotia. It’s on my travel bucket list.)
CMHR has many galleries of interest to the immprof. There is an exhibit about the interment of Japanese-Canadians, of which I was previously unaware. There is also an exhibit on asylum seekers in Canada – including asylees from the US. What group do you think is highlighted in that exhibit? I’ll give you a minute. Any guesses? It’s doctors who fled conscription in the Vietnam war.
There’s a temporary exhibit right now called A Perilous Crossing about refugees crossing the Mediterranean. Another, Freedom of Expression in Latin America, showcases art that bears witness to atrocity.
I was particularly impressed by the way the museum includes children. There’s a booklet-based scavenger hunt that really helps kids engage with what might otherwise be overwhelming material.
You were wondering how to spend your summer. Now you know – road trip!
-KitJ