As we've been a partner of the Museum of Vancouver over the past few years I've been blessed to have been exposed to a great deal of local stories and history through our work together. I've taken in every one of their exhibitions, explored their (hidden!) collections with their curators on multiple occasions and at their events have had a great deal of conversations with others passionate about this city we call home.
All Together Now at MOV
MOV's latest exhibit - All Together Now - brings together what they're calling "beautiful, rare, and unconventional" collections from 20 different Vancouverites. It contains a near-overwhelming amount of physical artifacts displayed in multiple rooms (see the above image for a look at one room) and I feel like the word "bizarre" mostly sums it up. And I mean that in a good way of course; we are all collectors in one way or another and there's something strange and wonderful (bizarre!) about that, and about how and why we come to collect the things that we do. This show not only displays the collections of 20 folks but it gives us some insight as to what brought them to accumulate this stuff. Below are portraits shot by local photographer Rebecca Blissett of all of the collectors featured in the exhibition, taken in their homes and work spaces. Check out the exhibit to see their things!
Angus Bunke, action figure collector. All photos below by Rececca Blissett.
Melanie Talkington, vintage corset collector
Lyanne and Angus, Transit collectors
Gerry Parson, jukebox and toaster collector
Nancy Bendtsen, chair collector
Imogene Lim, Chinese restaurant menu collector
Art Lingren, fly fishing lure collector
David Moe, prosthetic collector
Gabrielle Whiteley, taxidermy collector
Harold Steves, heirloom seed collector
Willow Yamauchi, collector of drag queen costumes
Major James Matthews, Vancouver’s original collector/city archivist
Ken Stephens, ramp walker toy collector
Yosef Wosk, circus ephemera collector
Maurice Guibord, Expo ’67 memorabilia collector
Marie Allen, artificial eye collector
Neil Whaley, Vancouver memorabilia collector
Rob Frith, retro concert poster collector
Anonymous, pocket watch collector
Kyle Seller, arcade and pinball game collector
Also, distributed throughout the exhibition are a bunch of interactive displays! You can try on some of the drag queen costumes, play a number of pinball machines, make your own fishing lure and more.
The Museum is open every day of the week and has their doors open til 8pm on Fridays now, and All Together Now is definitely something you should check out this summer!
