History
The Museum was founded in 1947 when the items in UBC's ethnographic collection were put on display in the basement of the Main Library. Dr. Harry Hawthorn served as the first director of the new Museum, with his wife, Dr. Audrey Hawthorn, serving as its first curator.
In 1971, the Museum received funds from the Government of Canada and UBC to begin construction of a new building. In 1976, the new building, designed by renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, opened under new director Michael Ames, who served from 1974 to 1997. Walter and Marianne Koerner's 1975 donation of their extensive collection of Northwest Coast First Nations art to the Museum formed a large part of the new building's contents.
In 1997, Dr. Ruth Phillips became Museum director. In 2002, Dr. Michael Ames returned as acting director. Dr. Anthony Shelton became director in 2004.
On January 23, 2010, MOA celebrated the completion of its multi-year, multi-million dollar renovation and expansion project, "A Partnership of Peoples."
The new facilities were developed with MOA by UBC Properties Trust and designed by Arthur Erickson and Stantec Architecture. The project comprises several complementary components:
- A new wing, the MOA Centre for Cultural Research, with state-of-the-art collections storage, research rooms, archaeology labs, a community research suite, open plan offices, and the Audrey & Harry Hawthorn Library & Archives.
- The Multiversity Galleries, housing more than 10,000 objects from around the world
- The 5,800 sq ft (540 m2) Audain Gallery for temporary exhibitions
- A new Café MOA and expanded shop
- The MOACAT digital catalogue system, making collections information (images, audio, and video) available throughout the galleries at the touch of a screen
- The RRN (Reciprocal Research Network), created in partnership with the Musqueam Indian Band, Stó:lō Nation, Stó:lō Tribal Council, and U'mista Cultural Society.
The Museum is affiliated with CHIN, CMA, and Virtual Museum of Canada.
Read more about this topic: Museum Of Anthropology At UBC
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