Museum of Surrey is a free, fully accessible venue in every sense – intellectually, culturally and physically. To further enhance the visitor experience, all panels in the Surrey Stories Gallery have been recently translated in Punjabi.
Museum goers can borrow a booklet with translated text that corresponds with each text panel in the Surrey Stories Gallery, which is home to both historic and contemporary displays. With a wide range of topics from farming to first responders, and even a 1950s living room, the gallery touches all walks of life.
“These efforts are a small part of the larger legacy project stemming from our award-winning 2019 exhibit – Being Punjabi: Unfolding the Surrey Story,” said Museum Manager Lynn Saffery. “In the exhibit, we committed to reflecting and serving the local Punjabi community.”
Being Punjabi ran in the feature gallery October 2, 2019 to February 23, 2020. It was the first exhibition in Canada to highlight Surrey’s Punjabi community, showcasing stories of both struggle and success. On October 8, 2020, the exhibit won two prestigious awards during the British Columbia Museum Association’s (BCMA) virtual conference – the Excellence in Community Engagement Award and the People’s Choice Award for Outstanding Exhibit.
According to Saffery, there will be more translations in different languages to come, including Braille and French, which will be available soon. “We are a people museum and want to be accessible to all people in Surrey.”