Sharing Our Stories, an exhibit at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives (NVMA), features the stories and objects of 12 Iranians living on the North Shore.
Recognizing the large presence of the Iranian community, the NVMA’s assistant director, Shirley Sutherland, and her colleagues formed an advisory committee to investigate how the members of the Iranian community would like to be involved in museum programs.
“Canadian museums were solely working with the first settlement groups such as the First Nations or European [white] pioneers. Other settlement groups weren’t engaged with Canadian museums at all,” says Sutherland.
Stories of arrival
Fereshteh Kashefi, multicultural services librarian at the North Vancouver City Library, has been part of the advisory committee for more than two years. For Kashefi, the exhibit marks North Vancouver’s recognition of the presence of the Iranian community and the role it plays.
“For me this is really new and interesting. It’s admirable,” she says.
The exhibit focuses more on oral history than displaying objects. The first phase of the project entailed gathering arrival stories and interviewing different members of the Iranian community. The group of interviewees included merchants, artists, thinkers and writers.
Sharon Fortney, a researcher and curator for NVMA, said the team ran into many challenges while undertaking the first phase of the project. Some Iranian community members were unable to understand the English spoken by the interviewer, while time conflicts were another barrier to be overcome.
Fereshteh Kashefi believes the exhibit creates unity in North Vancouver. | Photo by Peggy Lam
After interviews were conducted, memory boxes were created to feature objects highlighting the community’s experiences. Participants were asked to choose objects they wanted to use to illustrate their story. Examples of these objects are books, dance costumes and historical photographs.
“The boxes were made so they can be placed elsewhere in the community, [with] other agencies and offices after the exhibit dissolves,” Fortney explains.
Over the years, the project evolved from a few memory boxes into an entire exhibit. Panels were added to document the community’s growth in the city. Kashefi recounts her experience trying to display the community’s diversity and rich background in the exhibit.
“You can’t just start with memory boxes and leave people in the dark. There are so many questions that people have: Who are these people? What is their background? And when did they start coming here? All of these have been worked on as a part of the project,” says Kashefi.
Making it relevant
For Sutherland, the purpose of the exhibit is to shine a light on the past and create cross-cultural understanding between different groups in North Vancouver.
“We have a lot more different cultures that are thriving and living here. Yet we were not playing a role in building those bridges of understanding or informing,” she says.
Small groups of Iranians came to the North Shore between the 1950s and 1970s. The revolution in Iran sparked a larger wave of immigration. Legislative changes in Canada’s immigration system in the 1980s also made it easier for members of the non-elite to come and start their own businesses.
Sutherland acknowledges the need for museums to display exhibits that keep up with current demographic trends in order to remain relevant in the 21st century.
“Museums presented pioneer families who are proud of what they have started, but have moved on [from the area]. Their achievements [displayed] are now met with no interest. The idea is to work with the community as it exists today,” says Sutherland.
Sharing Our Stories features Iranians representative of different religions, genders and economic backgrounds. For Fortney, the most inspirational part of the project is for children to see themselves represented in the exhibit.
Fortney remarks on how important it is for the kids’ self-esteem to feel welcomed in the community. When kids come in to do an archive program, they look at the displays and can see their own cultures, past and present, represented.
Sharing Our Stories
North Vancouver Museum and Archives, 3203 Institute Rd.,
Lynn Valley, North Vancouver
Until March 28
