Historical chairs offer an intriguing opportunity for Vancouverites to look back.
A rear view, one might say.
The Museum of Vancouver is unveiling "Deep-Seated Histories: Chairs from the Collection" this June, once the museum's repairs are finished. Significant parts have been closed since September 2024 for upgrades.
Chairs are rarely associated with historical significance, unless it's thrown or a throne (the royal kind). Vancouver doesn't have any royalty, but the chairs in the exhibit were part of notable spots, moments, or people's lives. There's also samples from dollhouses, stools, and other seating.
Seraphim "Joe" Fortes was the beloved English Bay lifeguard who not only taught thousands in the city how to swim, but also regularly saved people. He lived in a little house just above the beach, where he often sat in a Morris chair. That chair is part of the exhibit.
There's also a custom stool from Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium; the store faced off with authorities repeatedly over LGBTQ+ materials, culminating in a Supreme Court of Canada case in 2000. Little Sister's won. The stool was in the store during this period.
Other chairs are from less historic moments, but still memorable parts of Vancouver, like Woodward's dining room, the Theatre Under the Stars (circa 1951 when Pearl Hendrix, a well-known singer and aunt to Jimi), and a BC Tel operator's chair.
Often, these chairs were part of the everyday life of the people who helped make Vancouver what it is now.
"Chairs are objects we barely notice—until we sit with their histories. This exhibition invites you to see chairs and other forms of seating as witnesses to the layered histories of Vancouver," says museum curator Denise Fong.
The exhibit will be happening at the same time as "Future Makers," an exhibit about newly made chairs. The museum partnered with Kwantlen Polytechnic University students. The students took donated leftover mahogany from the Vancouver marine industry and designed 15 chairs.
Sales of the chairs will go to a reforestation program in Guatemala, where the mahogany was brought from.
Currently, museum prices are discounted due to the closures. However, with the new exhibit opening and the museum returning to full size, regular admission prices are being determined and are expected to be in the $22 to $25 range.
Deep-Seated Histories at the Museum of Vancouver
When: Exhibit opens June 20, 2025
Where: Museum of Vancouver — 1100 Chestnut St.
Cost: TBD
