1999–2000 Annual Report - Canadian Museum of Civilization

In September 1999, I began my term as Chairman
of the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Corporation, inheriting the role from Canada’s
newly-appointed Governor General, Her Excellency
The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson.
Within a very short period of time, it became clear
that this was no ordinary chairmanship. The
Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
(CMCC) is an extremely active and high-profile
organization, constantly looking for ways to
improve its exhibitions and programmes, expand its
outreach activities, and present itself as an example
of what modern museums are — or should be — all
about.
Never an organization to rest on its laurels, the day
after the Corporation closed out its previous — and
recordbreaking — fiscal year, it was celebrating the
inauguration of Nunavut, in its role as the official
southern site of this important Canadian event.
Declaring “The Great Canadian North” as its major
high-season theme, the Canadian Museum of
Civilization featured not one, but three, selfproduced
exhibitions on the Inuit, including a live
webcast of Iqqaipaa, an exhibition celebrating
modern Inuit art.
A month later, the Canadian Museum of
Civilization launched its major exhibition of
Canadian outdoor folk art, This Other Eden.
Showcasing works from the CMC’s extraordinary
folk art collection, the exhibition’s presentation at
the CMC marked the first venue of an extensive
national tour. The exhibition proved extremely
popular with the public and the media. That an
exhibition on the domestic artistry of ordinary
Canadians managed to strike such a national chord
is, perhaps, a testament to the Corporation’s ability
to give Canadian audiences the kind of content they
are looking for.
Despite an ongoing deficit in public-sector support,
the Corporation also continued to complete longterm
exhibition spaces in the Canada Hall and First
Peoples Hall. It did this while maintaining an
active slate of educational and interpretive
programmes, special events, and more. Much of
this success has been achieved with the support of
public- and private-sector partners, to whom we are
sincerely grateful.
7
Dr. John English
Chairman, Board of Trustees
Photo: H. Foster
Chairman’s Report