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Virtual Tour: Canadian
Museum for Human Rights

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The Conference will include a 75-minute virtual tour of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on Friday, May 27th, 2022 at 1:30 Central Time.

The CMHR is situated at The Forks on land donated by the Forks Renewal Corporation. The inspiration for the museum came from Israel Asper, a Winnipeg lawyer, politician, and businessman. His inspiration was the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

The purpose of the Museum is to both commemorate and educate. Thus, it has a three-fold purpose: to explore the development of the concept of human rights; to examine human rights in a Canadian and international context; and to promote respect for the human rights of all people.

Funding for the Museum came from three sources: the federal, provincial, and city governments, the Asper Family Foundation, and the Friends of the Museum for Human Rights.

An architectural competition awarded the design to Antoine Predack and Chris Beccome of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Construction began in 2008. In 2010 the Queen brought a corner stone from Runnymede, site of the signing of the Magna Carta. The Museum was officially opened in 2014.

In terms of the design, the building moves from "earth" to "sky" as visitors ascend the concrete ramps from floor to floor, finally arriving at the "Tower of Hope".

There are ten galleries with permanent displays, beginning with an exhibition on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose articulation in 1948 had notable Canadian involvement.

Thereafter galleries focus on such issues as Indigenous rights, women's rights, and particular events such as the Winnipeg General Strike. There is an in-depth Holocaust gallery.

In addition to the permanent galleries there are several galleries which host temporary exhibitions. At present, there are three temporary exhibitions:

1) Activism -- April 30, 2021-April 30, 2022

2) Witness Blanket: Preserving the Legacy -- April 30, 2021-May 1, 2022

3) Articulating our Rights: July 30, 2021-June 30, 2022.

Website: https://humanrights.ca/visit/explore-the-museum-from-home

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