Two cultural institutions, two ways of engagement.
AT THE MUSEUM OF VANCOUVER :
MASH NOTES is intended to create surprising and engaging 
conversations about Vancouver’s architecture … a chance to have a direct say by answering some provocative questions at sites around the city.
Visit a Voice It KIOSK at one of these three locations:
SFU Woodwards Atrium (149 West Hastings)
Roundhouse Community Centre (181 Roundhouse Mews)
700 Granville (between Georgia and Robson)
The results are being shared in an exciting interactive exhibit at the MOV Studio until April 8.
AT THE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY:
Saturday, April 9, 9:30am-5:30pm
SUSTAIN: Vancouver – From farming to architecture, 
to new technology, to grassroots activism, this day of conversations looks at how creative and critical practices share varied understandings of the contemporary reality and anticipate different paradigms for the future.
For tickets – 604.662.4717.
Tickets: $65 adults; $55 members; $30 students (with valid ID).”
So …
From typeface to interface, these two institutions seem to have traded places. The MOV not too long ago seemed tired and irrelevant. Maybe because it was concerned for its survival, it has revitalized its programming and started taking risks. It’s certainly determined to get off Vanier Point to more engage with people in the heart of the city. Hence the tours, the kiosks, the embrace of the digital.
The VAG, in this case, has programmed an event that would have seemed more at home in the earnest galleries of the old Vancouver Museum. While it’s already at the heart of the city, the Gallery is determined to get somewhere else, closer to the edge of downtown. And you still have to order tickets by telephone.
Compare web sites and logos: MOV looks more like what you’d expect at VAG.
And I say – great. Both institutions are doing the unexpected; both are aiming for what they believe to be the soul of the city. Their programming may overlap, but that’s the nature of our age, where the borders between traditional content and art have blurred to the point where the difference between the gallery of art and the museum of the city is more indefinable.
If I were the VAG, looking to attract considerable cultural capital for its new location, I’d be glancing over my shoulder at the MOV. Which in turn might start looking for a more attractive location for its culture.
The Musuem of Vancouver would be a very welcome new cultural anchor for the above ground Law Courts buildings at Robson Square. It would very easily share the space with Bing Thom’s proposed underground concert hall. The 450 seat multi-purpose theatre in the Bing Thom proposal would certainly fit with the programming needs of the concert hall, which itself could serve as a large scale gathering space for public events in the city.
I still think it is madness for the VAG to voluntarily divest itself of the best location in the city and I still think that it should pursue an annex space within easy walking distance of Robson Square instead of going for broke with a starchitect-designed Bilbao-effect seeking new home in a less desirable part of downtown. The VAG could very easily have taken out a five year lease on Storyeum in Gastown to at least see how an annex for modern work and travelling curated shows would be received. If that were successful but the desire for a signature building were still strong in the VAG management then the search could begin in earnest for a new space. There are plenty of empty lots in the DTES/Gastown area, including 53 West Hastings which Concord Pacific wants to give to the city, that would be the perfect home for a VAG annex and a welcome addition to the revitilization of that part of the city.
Bottom line, the MOV is on the right track these days while the VAG’s priorities are generating concern and befuddlement.