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P.E.I. historians want to hear your thoughts on Canada 150

Cody MacKay | CBC News | Posted: July 25, 2017 6:00 PM | Last Updated: July 25, 2017

'What we want people to do is take the time to sit down and take their own perspectives'

Image | PEIRegimentMuseum

Caption: These are some of the artifacts on display at P.E.I. Regiment Museum for the conversation on Canada 150. (Submitted by Community Museums Association of P.E.I.)

What does Canada 150 mean to you? That's what the Community Museums Association of P.E.I. wants to know.
Kelly MacKenzie, executive director of the association, and Shana Morrison-Wood, project coordinator, hope to bring Islanders and visitors together to celebrate local and national history.
"To celebrate Canada 150 and bring community museums together through one mutual project," is the goal of the Canada 150 project, Morrison-Wood said.
They're launching the project as a symposium series — hosting conversations in museums across P.E.I. and asking visitors what the national event means to them.

'The story of Canada'

There are a total of 19 museums participating across the province.

Image | Canada150MuseumPEI

Caption: This is an example of what visitors at museums may see at one of the many exhibits around P.E.I. (Submitted by Community Museums Association of P.E.I.)

"We set up small exhibits at all of our museums this summer — they consist of five artifacts we select because we thought they represent the story of Canada," Morrison-Wood said.
They're mostly smaller community museums, she said, to focus more on the "community aspect of the project."

'What each artifact means'

In each museum, visitors will be able to investigate and reflect on up to five artifacts.

Image | Canada 150 project P.E.I. Community Museums

Caption: 'What type of objects would you collect to tell Canada's history for the next 100 years?' the exhibit at the Bedeque Area Historical Museum asks. (Submitted by Community Museums Association of P.E.I.)

Once visitors check out the artifacts, Morrison-Wood said, they'll be asking people to write down what they think of the artifacts. Writers can then read what others have written, too.
"What we want people to do is take the time to sit down and take their own perspectives," she said, "on what each artifact means to Canada's story."
It's a project designed to see what Islanders think of the artifacts, MacKenzie said, and "how they think they represent the story of Canada."

'Inspire some Islanders'

Organizers hope to see the varying perspectives among visitors and whether they see the artifacts as more locally significant, or if they see them as telling a story "more broadly of Canada as a country."
The entire project is to "inspire some Islanders to get interested — not only in Island history, but in their local museums," MacKenzie said.
It starts this Thurs., July 27, at the Sir Andrew MacPhail Homestead in Orwell, P.E.I., from 2 to 4 p.m and runs until Aug. 23.

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