Human rights museum is a hit

The cultural good news story of the year has to be the astounding success of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

Just 15 months after opening its doors at the city’s historic Forks location, the museum dreamed up by the late Izzy Asper is on a roll. It has clearly lived up to its motto of “Reach for the stars.”

The museum is exceeding attendance targets, drawing tourists and boosting the prairie city’s economy. Its target for annual attendance was 250,000, but in its first year it drew 400,000.

Meanwhile, it has won 24 international, national and regional awards.

Earlier this month, the museum won the National Cultural Tourism Award in Ottawa (as chosen by Canada’s tourism industry association). And on the same day, it came first on the list of Canada’s seven best-looking buildings compiled by Travel.com, a website offering advice to Australian globetrotters. (The only Toronto building on the list is the Art Gallery of Ontario.)

Travel and Leisure magazine (based in New York) called the human rights museum “one of the top five coolest destinations in the world.”

National Geographic Traveler included Winnipeg on its annual list of the top must-see global destinations to visit in 2016. The museum was a major factor in that selection.

The museum has been saluted for many aspects, such as technology, visitor experience, architecture, interactive games, construction, mobile apps and commitment to accessibility.

The upshot is a fairy-tale ending to a brutal set of obstacles, most conspicuously a vitriolic and longrunning chorus of hostility. Fierce opponents in the media and specialinterest communities went on the attack almost the moment plans to build the museum in Winnipeg were announced and they kept it up for years.

Even ardent supporters might have thought it would take a few years for the museum to become a stable operation. It didn’t help that Stephen Harper, the prime minister who made it a national museum, did not show up for the opening, or that a month later Canadian heritage minister Shelly Glover fired Stuart Murray, the CEO who got the place open.

According to John Young, who took over as CEO last summer, the museum is helping transform Winnipeg into an international destination and hub of human rights education.

“Our first year of operation — in a building that’s already become a Canadian architectural landmark — has been a truly amazing experience for everyone,” says Young, who was recruited from the academic world.

After Izzy Asper’s death, it was Gail Asper who fulfilled her father’s dream, driving it forward and securing support from all three levels of government. She turned the project over to the federal government when Harper made it national museum.

But Gail Asper continued a megafunding campaign, raising $160 million toward the total cost of $351 million.

These days, Asper spends hours reading and answering letters from visitors for whom the museum has had a great impact.

“You have no idea how great it is to get these letters,” she says. “It makes me feel the last 14 years were worth it.”

It took a combination of vision, a solid business plan, Antoine Predock’s iconic architecture, technological wizardry, government support and huge backing within Manitoba to make this work.

Visitors love going up to the tower and posting pictures on Facebook.

Here’s how that Australian travel website describes the experience: “A swirl of glass, stone, steel and concrete is faintly reminiscent of folded dove wings, while the 100-metre high Tower of Hope, illuminated at night, stands as a symbol of enlightenment. Yet it’s the interior experience that’s truly awe-inspiring: climbing the walkways of the museum . . . a poignant journey from darkness to light.” mknelman@thestar.ca