1461 replies to this topic

[Rob Randall]

I have zero doubt that the stuffed animals the RBCM has in storage are far superior than the ones the world-famous British Natural History Museum has on display.

[rjag]

The Downtown museum plan was announced to the public in February 2010. Are you saying the Colwood plan was before this?

yup we had discussions about accommodating their overflow as far back as 07/08 with Pauline Rafferty the CEO of RBCM and Gary Mitchell the then Provincial Archivist. They had a variety of items housed at offsite facilities at that time and recognized the problems associated with ever expanding collections and the strict environmental standards required. The plan was to do a private building with a multi generational lease and amortize the massive expense over that time....then 08 happened and money dried up. This was the same time as the Bateman Foundation was working with RRU to build a world class facility at RRU and he was donating the bulk of his extensive collection

 

08 was a nasty time for funding things

[todd]

Will the new archives have a full transcript of VV?

[grantpalin]

Was out for a drive and geocaching in Metchosin this morning. Going along Metchosin Road, just south of Royal Bay, there is already a sign in place marking the site of the new museum archives building.

[aastra]

 

...the stuffed animals the RBCM has in storage are far superior than the ones the world-famous British Natural History Museum has on display.

 

Are you comparing gift shops?

[Rob Randall]

Ha ha! Actually the British Museum gift shop is pretty good. The taxidermy displays are terrible as I noted last year. They're so old, moth-eaten and ratty and have been exposed to sunlight for so many decades every animal is light beige. Really shabby. I don't know what they have in storage but the display taxidermy at the RBCM (mammoth, horse, grizzly etc.) look like they just stepped out of the forest. No comparison.

[aastra]

 

They're so old, moth-eaten and ratty....

 

Maybe you missed their excellent moths and rats exhibit?

 

I haven't been to RBCM in a while but a few years ago they had a bunch of animals on the ground level. They were all really good.

[Rob Randall]

And yes, I do know the RBCM mammoth is not real.

[Mike K.]

The friends of the archives are happy, not happy with the announcement, but do raise several good points. It strikes me how this group has not been made aware of what's actually going, given the basic questions they have like "Will the BC Archives Reference Room also be relocated to the Colwood site?"

 

FBCA Welcomes New Collections Facility; Questions Remain
Posted on October 5, 2020by Kelly B

 

The Board of Directors of the Friends of the British Columbia Archives (FBCA) welcomes the news of a state-of-the-art facility for preservation of the Royal BC Museum and BC Archives (RBCM/BCA) collections, to be constructed in Colwood by 2024. While we understand that this project is in early stages, we have a number of questions regarding the facility and its accessibility:

 

- Will the BC Archives Reference Room also be relocated to the Colwood site, or is the new facility simply for archival and museum collections preservation and storage?

- Will the facility be accompanied by increased staffing and financial support?

- Will there be adequate storage space and controlled climate conditions for both present and future archival collections, recognizing that many analogue archives of the 20th century have yet to be acquired and preserved?

- Access to that part of Colwood requires a personal vehicle; currently, public transit takes nearly 2.5 hours round trip from Uptown Shopping Centre in Victoria – longer should users be coming from the ferry terminal/airport or downtown transit exchanges.  Will there be improvements to transit routes to that area?

Although a new building remains 3 years off, the Province’s October 2019 public engagement report on the future of the museum (“Royal BC Museum Modernization: What We Heard”) notes several issues that are of a higher priority to users of the RBCM/BCA collections. These issues centre around fee structures and digital access and could be addressed now, at a fraction of the cost of a new building. For example, the report notes:

 

One key issue that surfaced during the engagement was access to the collection and archives by individuals, Indigenous communities and regional museums. Low–barrier access to the collections and archives, including financial access, was expressed as a particularly crucial factor for productive collaboration. Access to archival materials at low cost was highlighted as especially important for another reason, given the Museum’s influence within B.C.’s network of archives (p. 23)…The connection between the geographic accessibility provided by digitization, and affordable use of archival materials for local communities, is expressed (p. 23).

 

As the FBCA and others have previously indicated, there are low-cost and concrete steps that the RBCM/BCA executive and the Province could immediately take to increase accessibility to and preservation of its collections. We look forward to an opportunity to meet with RBCM/BCA leadership, including the incoming Director of Provincial Archives, to address these matters and undertake meaningful consultation with users of the Royal BC Museum and BC Archives.

[Victoria Watcher]

Results from a survey on race and discrimination at the Royal BC Museum are “not good,” according to the museum’s board chair, Dan Muzyka.

 

The internal survey was sparked by the resignation of Lucy Bell, the former head of Indigenous collections and repatriation, who cited racism and a lack of diversity during her parting speech in the summer of 2020.

Muzyka, who took on the role of board chair in June, was on the line during the virtual speech.

 

“I can say that I was very disappointed and sad, for sure,” he said. Bell, a Haida woman, had worked at the museum – a crown corporation – from 1995 to 2020 as part of the Aboriginal Cultural Stewardship Program.

Following her speech, a formal public service agency investigation was initiated – a process that’s ongoing – and the museum hired diversity inclusion consultant Alden Habacon to conduct training, interviews and a staff survey. Other staff members have since voiced concerns about racism at the museum.

 

Muzyka would not go into the details of the results, saying the institution needs time to process the information. But he did say that “in general, the survey results are not good.”

 

https://www.vicnews....rk-environment/

 

 

 

 

somebody worked at the museum - for 25 years - then complained?  why not get a new job after like 6 months?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 January 2021 - 09:35 AM.

[Spy Black]

I'm not buying any of this story ... at least as it's been presented to date.

So far this is the one-sided Lucy Bell Story, and absolutely nothing else.

 

• Zero supporting evidence made public?
• Zero details shared with the public?
• A bizarrely long tenure with the RBCM - to suddenly quit with a "take this job and shove it" speech on the way out the door?
• The fanciful conceit that simply through the act of hiring an inclusion consultant, Bell's claims are to be given weight?

 

I'd like specific details on the heavily peddled sentence: "other staff members have since voiced concerns about racism at the museum" ... which could just as easily read "other staff members at the museum have voiced concerns about racism" ... which is of course what civilized people do everywhere - voice their ongoing personal concerns about racism.

 

There's something fishy about this entire affair, including the way the museum is continuing to present itself ... and of course the incident itself - after two and a half decades of employment with the RBCM.

[Victoria Watcher]

agree.  something is not right.  

[Rob Randall]

But RCBM is a prestige gig, it's not like you can rock the boat, quit and go to the other world-class museum across the street.

[Victoria Watcher]

But RCBM is a prestige gig, it's not like you can rock the boat, quit and go to the other world-class museum across the street.

 

how miserable must your life be still if you put yourself through 25 years of that though.

 

still sounds fishy.

[Rob Randall]

^I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, maybe she's a problem person, who knows. But it's also true that any person of colour will tell you putting up with White people's BS is just par for the course, it becomes background noise. 

[Victoria Watcher]

^I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, maybe she's a problem person, who knows. But it's also true that any person of colour will tell you putting up with White people's BS is just par for the course, it becomes background noise. 

 

every single person of colour - every one - i've ever known has laughed along with the "background noise". now there is some chance that was a facade every time.  or maybe i just know more positive people.  or they are in the majority.  you only hear about the aggrieved ones.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 26 January 2021 - 06:47 PM.

[Rob Randall]

The stone pillar saga made Britain's The Guardian:

 

The controversy has also overshadowed a fresh effort by the museum to work alongside First Nation elders to gain insight and context for Indigenous artworks.

 

For now, the stone face sits in a tank of fresh water, denuded of seaweed and cleansed of salt. Elders will study the pillar, drawing on their knowledge of the region’s art and history before drawing a conclusion.

 

The authentication process is not yet finished, but [Lou-ann Neel, head of the museum’s Indigenous curation and repatriation department] said she was disappointed that so many people were quick to credit Boudreau.

“Why is everyone choosing not to believe that it could be an artefact or something from this area?” she said.

 

 

https://www.theguard...columbia-museum

[Mike K.]

“Why is everyone choosing not to believe that it could be an artefact or something from this area?” she said.

How can our society claim to be science-driven when experts at a Royal museum in the capital of BC are willing to believe a fairy tale theory rather than believe the dude who made the thing and left it on the beach?

[Victoria Watcher]

said she was disappointed that so many people were quick to credit Boudreau.

 

 

well we saw his photos.  and drew our conclusions.  

[Midnightly]

people saw the photos of Boudreau's work as he was making the stone, he said he was working on it near the area  where it was found, it went missing 2yrs ago... it's pretty solid evidence that he carved it....and add that the stone is sandstone which would not hold up to hundreds of years of salt and sea water pushing against it and still have such detail... it sounds more like someone doesn't want to believe the truth