CCI Newsletter, No. 26, November 2000

Message from the Director General

As the new millennium begins, we are increasingly faced with a virtual world. This instant electronic connection and rapid access to information presents many new opportunities, but also draws us away from the solid things we can touch and feel. To assure our identity as citizens within Canada, this virtual presence and global connectedness must be complemented with a renewed emphasis on the material objects through which we know ourselves and find our place. If we neglect these touchstones of our culture, we cast ourselves adrift. Connecting Canadians has to mean more than wires, fibre optic cables, and satellites; it must also celebrate the vital human connections that are possible through the tangible objects we cherish, and the stories they tell us. With this in mind, CCI has been exploring new mechanisms to strengthen Canada's capacity to preserve and protect its material cultural heritage.

Over the years the Institute has inspired many technological solutions to a wide range of museum problems, and sees the current trend to an information-based approach as a watershed in the way that we, as a nation, deal with and appreciate our cultural heritage. But we must not forget that the artifacts from which the information is derived are a non-renewable resource. They will deteriorate if we allow them to lie unregarded, and we will ultimately become orphans in our own world. Balance is therefore essential.

The Government of Canada has played a leadership role in developing our conservation capacity since the late 1960s. However, the last decade has seen all levels of government diminish the resources they allocate to the care of collections, and we believe the general state of collections has deteriorated accordingly. In spite of these resource constraints, the collecting of artifacts — the raison d'être of museums — has continued. To ensure that these collections are preserved for the benefit of future generations, we must now find new ways to increase public involvement and ensure adequate support for their care. Key to this will be increasing public awareness and understanding of the fragile state of heritage objects in our society.

CCI is currently developing proposals for a national preservation strategy. If approved, this strategy would be based on government funding and expert services (from CCI and the Canadian Heritage Information Network), complemented with awareness-building through the media and other sources. Grass roots programs aimed at the community level would engage individual Canadians in the protection of their personal and community cultural heritage objects. National and local media-based programs would raise the general awareness of heritage protection, and cement the concepts of conservation in the public mind set. The result should be a strong and continuing public advocacy for heritage preservation issues.

Success in ensuring the long-term preservation of our heritage will depend to a very large extent on the active involvement of all stakeholders, including other levels of government. A CCI team has been working with partners in the heritage community (including the Canadian Museums Association, the Canadian Council of Archives, and the Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property, among others) to develop a long-term national approach. We will be consulting with representatives across Canada, but I also invite you to contact me directly with your thoughts and advice on this important national question.

We believe that the time has come to engage all Canadians in the care and preservation of our cultural heritage.