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Celebrations of Quebec City's past, present and future will be taking place throughout 2008 to commemorate the 400-year history of the founding of the city. The events are built around a central theme highlighting the city's historical role as a crossroads between cultures and the central theme of the events is “Meetings and Encounters”. The different levels of government have invested over 100 million dollars to fund various events throughout the year and millions of visitors from around the world are expected to attend.
Exposition Shalom Québec is a non-profit corporation whose objectives are to illuminate the contribution and integration of the Jews during 400 years of Quebec's history, explain what Jewish cultural traditions are, and show how Quebec has had an impact on immigration and how immigration has had an impact on Quebec.
Our board members include notable Jewish and non-Jewish members who are working in conjunction with the Quebec City Jewish community as well as with other Jewish advocacy groups. We have also formed a partnership with the Musée des Religions, based in Nicolet, Quebec, who will be providing their resources and expertise to the exhibition.
We are proud to say that our project, of eighty-five projects submitted so far, is one of only sixteen chosen for accreditation and funding by the Société du 400e anniversaire de Québec, the body charged with organizing the government sponsored events. The department of Canadian Heritage has also approved funding for the research involved in this project.
Objectives
To achieve our objectives we are planning an exhibition that will run from May to October 2008, concurrent with the City's festivities. We have already received the support of VIA Rail who will host the exhibition in the Gare du Palais in the area of the city that used to house most of the Jewish commerce in the past century. This area is well frequented by tourists, students and Quebecois alike and has undergone a radical regeneration recently.
There will be four major areas of focus for the exhibition:
1. Personalities: an examination of the different Jewish personalities who have been involved with Quebec City over its history and using their story to shine light on the different epochs in which they lived.
2. Immigration: showing how Quebec City has been a major point of immigration to North America and exploring the direction of Jewish families who stayed or passed through here.
3. Jewish Culture: an exploration of the culture and its rich traditions and symbolisms.
4. Special Events: Musical concerts, including Klezmer and classical, guest lecturers, theatrical productions, school visits, film viewings etc.
The international scale of the celebrations will afford the Jewish community a unique opportunity to highlight its deep historical roots in North America to a wide audience. Moreover this important initiative will have a positive impact on relations between Quebec's Jewish community and other segments of Quebec society. Quebec City is the provincial capital, yet its Jewish community has kept a relatively low profile and its history and culture have passed untold. Creating a program that provides outreach for the students involved as well as the attendees of the exhibition will go a long way to helping enlighten the community at large.
How can you help?
If your family or ancestors had either arrived or lived in Quebec City please contact us. We are especially interested in any memorabilia, such as family photographs, old letters, information on your family's businesses (if in Quebec City) as well as any stories or information about your relatives before and after they arrived in Canada. We would love to hear from you.
We are also in the process of fundraising for this project. While we have received funding from government sources we still need to raise at least $100,000 in private donations. By supporting us you will ensure that this story will be recognised in the history of Canada.
We look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you in 2008!
Yours sincerely,
Simon Jacobs,
Directeur général
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