Such memories! Expo67

Expo 67 is the most important event of the centennial celebrations of Canada's Centennial in 1967. It all begins with an idea of Quebec Senator Mark Drouin, which is realized after the withdrawal of Moscow, favorite city from the International Exhibitions Bureau at the beginning. Montréal is thus designated to host the first event of its kind in North America. "Man and his World", the chosen theme, takes its title from the work of the French novelist, poet and aviator “Antoine de Saint-Exupéry”. As for the site, “Île Sainte-Hélène” a vast park located in the center of the St. Lawrence River was chosen. It is connected to Montreal by the Jacques-Cartier Bridge which is highly regarded.

Man and his creative genius, Man questions the universe, Man at work, Man and agriculture and Man in the City are the five major thematic groups selected for the event. Each country has the opportunity to build its own pavilion or to partner with others in a regional pavilion. This is how the various pavilions compete in originality at the architectural level. A place is also made for the artists and the artistic groups. A total of 61 nations in 90 pavilions were represented at Expo 67. More than 50 million tickets were sold between April 28^th and October 27^th as well as entries for artists, the press, dignitaries and employees.

The celebrations of the 50^th anniversary of this universal event give us the opportunity to take a look at the past, mainly through the memories of the inhabitants of the region who had the chance to live this era. It is a national heritage, but it has regional and local ramifications to the members of the community who have lived it in their own way. Some clothing, dishes, books, booklets, cards, postcards, etc. constitute the panoply of objects presented. In addition to artefacts from the Museum's collection, this exhibition benefits from numerous loans from members of the local community.