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| - For a small museum, quite a wonderful find. If and when they ever finish off something in the vacant lot where the historic parliament used to be this could be a great first stop for a visitor to Montreal. As it is, the combination of first and second floors was better taken after we'd oriented the kids a little, in that the ordered history of the first floor, told mostly through small artifacts and maps with small explanatory notes on the wall, made more sense with a little context of having walked around a while, and the second floor exhibit (more on that in a bit) was just an amazingly entertaining if not exactly comprehensive look at its subject matter.
So, the first floor: as noted, this is an old firehouse so the museum isn't huge but they did a very nice job with the space they had. At each of six or so stops, a different era of Montreal history is briefly explained, with the help of animated maps (with not a lot of explanatory text, but enough) showing the changes from first peoples to the modern era. One suggestion: the screens are at touch-screen-level, and my little digital natives assumed they could touch to explore more about the maps being displayed, but it was just really an animation on a loop. If the material here can be expanded to make it a truly interactive display, it would really make a lot more out of the limited space. The artifacts displayed are a bit random and obviously meant to fit into the space, although I'm also relieved they didn't overcrowd the place with a gazillion old things, as you frequently get at history museums, just because they're old and somebody donated them. My one criticism of the history presented is they didn't really address the displacement of first peoples; there was a section on the Iroquois and then pouf, you have no idea how they interacted with the Europeans or how they were removed.
Now, the SECOND floor when we go there: that was something. The space is used for rotating exhibits, and this year it's "Scandale", the history of Montreal's red light districts. While there wasn't really a true linear history in depth presented, it roughly followed the story of the rise of vice in the middle of the 20th century and then the gradual beating back through public outcry and a reduction of police corruption. As I said, it really doesn't quite tell a complete and coherent story but it really illustrates it well. The "brothel room" was very clever, using an overhead projection on a bed to suggest a transaction in place, and then in another room you're in a gambling den and are given a "case" to solve, the historical murder of a gangster by another gangster. There are lots of clever little bits of business in this exhibit (the ultraviolet lights to "detect" the secret network of gambling dens, speakeasies, and bordellos was quite the hit with the kids). We were given an appropriate warning about the content level at the desk, but honestly there wasn't that much that was hard to explain to the kids. One of them didn't understand "snuggling" and the other is already a man of the world and acted like he'd seen it all before, and the exhibit did a decent job at showing connections between vice and the unsavory effects on society at large. I do wish they'd shown more about the sources of exploitation of women in the sex trade - maybe some personal stories -- as they seemed to more illustrate the story than be the victims of the episode in Montreal history. (And honestly, a few decades ago it was still thriving in parts of town that are now cleaned up, so they should have been exteneded their discussion of the history from mid-century noir to recent- and perhaps continuing problem. I digress and maybe nitpick a bit, but not too much).
Anyway, for a reasonable price the first floor was a great orientation to Montreal history without being ponderous, and at least this exhibit on the second floor was unusual and interesting. So, recommended.
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