CMHR works with Canadian War Museum to present "Peace" as first temporary exhibit

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Peace exhibition invite

Two national Canadian museums are working together to present "Peace - The Exhibition" as the first exhibit to be shown in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights' (CMHR) Expressions gallery, a space for temporary exhibits, when it opens in September 2014.

Developed by the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, this travelling exhibition explores the ways that Canadians have defined, made and kept peace at home and around the world. Peace is examined on three levels: how we negotiate to obtain and protect it; how we organize and demonstrate to demand it; and, sometimes, how we fight to achieve it.

"This cooperation between the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the Canadian War Museum will help highlight an important aspect of our nation's history and identity," said the Honourable Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, during a news conference at the CMHR today. "The diversity of Canadians' choices and actions for peace has helped shape this country. I commend this excellent initiative, which will help ensure that Canadians have access to our rich heritage today and into the future."

The full exhibition was presented at the Canadian War Museum from May 2013 to January 2014. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax is currently hosting components of the exhibit until October 19, 2014. The CMHR will present the travelling exhibition when it opens in September.

"We welcome this opportunity to work with another national museum to help tell our country's rich and diverse human rights story," said CMHR president and CEO Stuart Murray. "Peace and human rights rely on each other. When the Charter of the United Nations was drafted after the Second World War, respect for human rights was identified as a key pathway to world peace. The pursuit of both peace and human rights requires us to make choices, take action and uphold our responsibilities to each other as fellow human beings. That makes 'Peace - The Exhibition' a wonderful complement to our own exploration of human rights. "

Mark O'Neill, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of History, a federal Crown Corporation that operates the Canadian War Museum, said the exhibit provides a unique opportunity for museum visitors to experience the stories of Canadians in diverse and sometimes conflicting roles in pursuit of peace.

"This exhibition is designed to show how peace is not simply the opposite of war - it's far more complex," he said at the news conference. "Canadians are presented as combatants, peacekeepers, activists, diplomats, humanitarians, and more. We are very pleased that the War Museum's exhibition will be presented at the opening of Canada's new national museum."

The Expressions gallery is supported by the Richardson Foundation and the Richardson family.

Report courtesy Canadian Museum for Human Rights.