[GTranslate]MONTREAL – There are objects of everyday life, old photos and even faithful reconstructions of traditionally Italian environments such as the bar, the house and the church: there is so much Belpaese in the “Montréal à l’Italien” exhibition inaugurated today (March 10) at the Pointe-à-Callière museum in Montreal and promoted to turn the spotlight on the daily life of the first Italian immigrants in Montréal and on the ways in which the community evolved during the 1900s: thousands of Italians who have brought with it their traditions, their values ​​and their customs, forming one of the oldest and largest cultural communities of immigrants in Montreal where today the Italian-Canadians are almost 300 thousand.

Thanks to the support of the local Italian Cultural Institute, the museum has managed to collect the family treasures of many Montrealers, which illustrate the most varied various traditions (starting from the culinary ones) or recall important events and the community that have left their mark in the arts, business, sport and public life with the typical talent of Italians.

Through the use of projections, audiovisual material and sets, the exhibition takes visitors on a “journey” back through five symbolic places: the train station, the arrival point of many workers of Italian origin recruited by important Canadian companies to work in the infrastructure and construction sectors; the bar, where people talk about politics and follow sport, especially cycling and football; the home, the family place, where culinary traditions are perpetuated and where the Italian language continues to be spoken; the church, meeting place and place of great events and seat of the many Italian associations born over the years (in Montréal today there are 120); the public life, with the careers of Italian-Montreal artists who have brought the name of Montréal all over the world.

The exhibition is organized with the collaboration of numerous local Italian institutions and / or associations, including (in addition to the aforementioned Italian Cultural Institute): Alliance Donne Femmes italiennes du Québec, Canadian Italian Business & Professional Association CIBPA Montréal, Casa d ‘Italia Montréal, Archives of the Italian-Canadian Community of Quebec at the Casa d’Italia, National Congress of Italian-Canadians, Order of Sons and Daughters of Italy. The Montreal Museum of Archaelogy and History – Pointe-à-Callière is located at 350 Place Royale Old Montréal (Québec) Canada (email info@pacmusee.qc.ca – phone 514 872-9150) and is open Tuesday to Friday 10 am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday 11 am-5pm (closed on Mondays). Admission is subject to a fee.

More here: https://pacmusee.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/detail/italian-montreal/

In the pics: some photos of the exhibition (source: Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal Archaelogy and History Complex)