How could objects from the country’s indigenous history that belong to the Séminaire de Sherbrooke have been found? in an auction in Montreal ? The director of the Sherbrooke Museum of Nature and Sciences, Michelle Bélanger, does not understand why she was not even informed. Especially since the museum located just a few meters from the educational institution founded in 1875 is the heir to part of its collection.
“We did not consult them because they are more specialized in matters relating to science and nature,” explains the To have to Jean-Pierre Bertrand, member of the board of directors of the Seminar mandated to explain the decision to sell these objects at auction. Does the Séminaire de Sherbrooke board include a museologist or a specialist historian? “No, but we sought the advice of an expert who was highly recommended to us, Mr. Champagne”, from the auction house of the same name.
Did the Seminar consult at least one independent expert? Has he considered giving his residual collections to museums as a priority? “No, because we were told that these are mostly native crafts and that museums might want to buy them. So Mr. Champagne proceeded. The objects were also not donated to Aboriginal communities.
Particular and debatable
“It’s rather special,” the director of the Sherbrooke Museum of Nature and Sciences is surprised. From 2009 to 2016, Mme Bélanger was director general of the Musée des Abénakis. “Let us say that the moment, in addition, to put this collection on sale is particularly badly chosen, as this week marks the first anniversary of the death of Joyce Echaquan and the Day of Truth and Truth is celebrated. reconciliation. “
Jean-Pierre Bertrand explains: “We are not a museum! We are an educational institution! The repair of certain premises led us to discover objects that were not well protected, including several objects of worship. These, he specifies, were entrusted to the Mgr-Antoine-Racine Archives Center.
For decades, similar museums were attached to local religious institutions. True cabinets of curiosities, they were often the only places for miles around where it was possible to admire various collections. They were an intrinsic part of the educational mission of the educational institutions responsible for them.
Let’s say the timing is particularly bad, so […] that we celebrate the Day of Truth and Reconciliation
The Séminaire de Sherbrooke now refuses to bridge the gap between its old collections and its educational mission. “We have financial needs,” replies the CA. The director of educational services, Isabelle Chainé, considers for her part that “the board of directors has made a good analysis to invest,” she told the To have to.
For the director of the Museum of Nature and Science, however, it is not a question of money. “We realize, in the catalog for Tuesday’s sale, that these are not very expensive items. It is also difficult to put a price on it. Rather, it is a collection of great heritage value, ”she explains, while stressing that her museum has sometimes acquired objects on the fringes of its mission precisely so that they are not lost by the community.
Ethical problem ?
In its code of ethics, the Museums Society indicates that an establishment must not lend itself to “the overbidding of objects”, and that it must offer as a priority to museum institutions what it wishes to dispose of or see to be offered. “To the last owners or to the beneficiaries the possibility of acquiring these objects [ou] specimens, at their fair market value ”.
In its defense, the Seminary argues that it no longer has a museum in the strict sense, but only what remains of its old collections, without, moreover, being able to indicate with precision what has happened to important parts of its collections. treasures. Its important collection of coins and medals was liquidated. What happened to the pieces of military history that occupied the last of the three levels of the tower of its main building? Mystery. There were objects there that testified to the participation of citizens of the Eastern Townships in the Crimean War, as well as in local skirmishes against the Fenians.
Behind a window, visitors could also view rare photographs showing, during the Second World War, Gaspesians exchanging food with German submariners.
What happened to these unique documents? “I don’t know where these objects went,” concedes the Seminar. “Maybe it was sold or given away. I know that a saber has been sold, but I cannot tell you exactly where it came from. We didn’t know. “
In Quebec City, a former Minister of Culture, Christine St-Pierre, deplored that the current Minister, Nathalie Roy, “remained idle when she had the power to intervene under the Act respecting Cultural Heritage “.
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