Maybe you’ve already passed her in the hallway. Maybe she’s come knocking at your door. Her name is Karine Raynor; she’s a museologist and art historian employed by the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). If this seems strange to you, it shouldn’t. You’d be surprised to discover that the buildings that make up the MUHC are a treasure trove of items and objects that tell the history of these institutions.
Karine catalogues artwork, archives, photos, audiovisual documents, medical antiquities, furniture, and textiles which have particular artistic or historical value. The goal is that these objects will eventually become part of an initiative to highlight the hospitals’ heritage at the new MUHC—in a way that the community can benefit from it.
The objective of this work is in part to facilitate access to works and objects which make up the collections of the MUHC, in order to shed light on the history of the hospitals and medicine in
The discoveries that Karine has made up to now are surprising. For example, at the
Besides works of art, there are objects that trace the evolution of medicine in
The work that Karine has done since 2008 involves going from office to office and responding to requests from people who believe they might be sitting on something valuable from an artistic or heritage perspective. “Sometimes, people think they should preserve certain objects—and it’s thanks to them that we have these finds and they can now be part of the collection.” It’s easy to see that Karine takes a certain pleasure in unravelling all of this!
Once Karine is able to catalogue all the items according to a classification system used in museology, the items will be put on display. Even though there is not yet an exhibition plan or a definitive program in place, the idea is that the works and objects can be exhibited in rotation in various areas of the hospitals such as hallways, waiting areas, and care units so that as many people as possible can enjoy the collection. Until that time, if you think you might have something in your possession that should be part of our recorded history, don’t hesitate to contact Karine by email at [email protected].