International museum project puts P.E.I. in spotlight

P.E.I. will be featured in an international online project later this month called 52 Museums.

Every week, a different museum or cultural institution takes over the @52museums Instagram page to showcase its exhibits and stories.

The P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation will be showcased April 27 to May 3, said curator Matthew McRae. The @52museums Instagram account has more than 20,000 followers.

"It's a huge opportunity for our institution but it's also a big opportunity for Prince Edward Island because a lot of the people on this account, the majority of them, probably don't know very much about P.E.I.," McRae said in an interview on CBC-Radio's MainstreetP.E.I.

McRae said he applied to be part of the project and was thrilled to be accepted.

It has been running for a couple years, but McRae said with museums closed because of COVID-19, it is more relevant than ever.

"It's a challenge, this time right now, but it's also an opportunity I think for institutions like ours because we can help people who are stuck at home, giving them resources for teaching their kids and also resources for just taking your mind off things."

Behind the scenes

McRae said they will not only introduce people to P.E.I., but take them behind the scenes of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation.

"We're not one museum, we're seven different sites and each site has its own personality and its own focus," he said.

"So we really want to bring that out and tell the stories of the sites."

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