Whistler Museum's Archive: A Living Collection Dependent on Donations
The Whistler Museum's archive is not a comprehensive record of local history but a collection shaped by donations, which can lead to demographic imbalances. The museum relies on community contributions of physical items (text, photographs, video) and oral histories to expand its repository. Processing donations is slow due to a small staff of three; the Bruce Rowles collection of over 70,000 photographs has taken seven months of full-time work to inventory and appraise, with digitization still ongoing. Digitizing 20,000 images can take a year to meet Canadian archival standards. The museum's photographic collection exceeds 300,000 items, nearing 400,000 with the Rowles addition, but only about 90,000 are digitized. A selection of Rowles' photography will be exhibited from April 24th to June 14th. The museum acknowledges past colonial practices of taking without permission and has repatriated some items. It invites community participation through events, volunteering, and donations.
Key facts
- The archive is a 'collection of story parts' shaped by donations.
- The museum has a staff of three plus a contract worker for the Rowles collection.
- Bruce Rowles donated over 70,000 photographs; processing took seven months and is ongoing.
- Digitizing 20,000 images can take one year to meet Canadian archival standards.
- The photographic collection exceeds 300,000 items, nearing 400,000 with Rowles.
- Approximately 90,000 items are digitized.
- Rowles photography exhibition runs April 24 to June 14 at the Whistler Museum.
- The museum has repatriated items that were not rightfully theirs.
- The archive can be disproportionately reflective of the local demographic.
- Donations include physical items and oral histories.
Entities
Artists
- Bruce Rowles
Institutions
- Whistler Museum
- International Council on Archives
Locations
- Whistler
- Canada