MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM — The Juno Beach Centre (JBC) in Normandy, France, is spending $1.25 million to renew a major exhibit just in time to honour the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June 2024.
Since the JBC opened in 2003, Faces of Canada Today has showcased Canada’s evolution since the war and has helped visitors understand the country that more than one million veterans — from a country of 11 million in 1945 — helped build. However, the exhibition’s contents were created in the late 1990s and are now considered outdated and missing many significant events in Canadian history over the past 20 years.
“Faces of Canada Today will explore how the resilience of Canadian service personnel during and after the Second World War helped transform Canadian society,” explained Marie Eve Vaillancourt, director of exhibitions at the Juno Beach Centre Association. “This legacy guides us today as we strive to create a more just and tolerant society, able to overcome obstacles and serve others.”
The JBC will illustrate these themes through several broader sections, the first of which explores post-war immigration, beginning with the return of Canadian veterans and their European war brides and their great contributions to post-war society.
“The diversification of Canadian society and its growing multiculturalism will be explored, as well as the difficulties faced by minorities,” said Vaillancourt. “The notions of tolerance and inclusion will help underpin how Canada is a country that strives to live in peace with itself and with others.”
One section of the exhibition will be dedicated to the volunteerism, activism, and environmentalism that drive Canadian society, while another will discuss the struggles of its “colonial” history with Aboriginal Peoples.
The Juno Beach Centre aid it appreciates the support from Veterans Affairs Canada, which provided a $25,000 grant through the Commemorative Partnership Program. This grant covered the costs of bringing First Peoples Group into the project as an advisory partner.
In addition, the exhibition will demonstrate that the service of modern veterans — those thousands of Canadians who have worn the uniform since 1945 — continues to inform Canadian identity. Whether during the Cold War, through the United Nations and NATO missions, or during the war in Afghanistan, Canadians have continued to serve.
This renewal project will reflect the culture of remembrance and the history of the poppy symbol in Canada from the First World War to the present day.
“Standing on Juno Beach today means reflecting on how a place of war has healed into a place of peace,” said Vaillancourt. “As we live in an increasingly troubled world, taking the time to reflect on peace is an act of engaged remembrance and citizenship.
“This new permanent exhibition will immerse visitors in an emotional contemplation of Canada’s growth and recovery since the end of the Second World War.”
With the upcoming 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2024, this project comes at an opportune time, the JBC said. Featuring stories from across Canada’s diverse population, Faces of Canada Today aims to be reflective, nuanced, and honest in its portrayal of courage, resilience, and sacrifice.
The Juno Beach Centre thanks Région Normandie and REACT EU (250,000€), and Direction de la mémoire, de la culture et des archives (200,000€) for their support. Faces of Canada Today is a $1.25 million project, and, due to current funding partners, the JBC has raised nearly two-thirds of its goal.
Support for this project is the single most important investment donors can make as we stand on the cusp of the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy in 2024.
More information on the Faces of Canada Today exhibition and opportunities to support can be found at www.junobeach.org/upcoming-exhibitions/.
