Open regular museum hours for in-person shopping, 7 days a week from 10 am to 5 pm, and until 9 pm on Thursdays. Shop online—at anytime, from anywhere. Closed Mondays, from October 15 to May 15.
From Vancouver: The westbound 4, 14, 25, 33, R4, 44, 49, 84, 99 B-Line, and 480 buses arrive at UBC. Get off at the last stop and walk northwest. See detailed directions.
Once at UBC Exchange, you can also transfer to the 68 Wesbrook Village bus instead of walking to MOA. Get off at NW Marine Dr at West Mall. Full transit information at the Translink website.
From Downtown Vancouver: Cross the Burrard or Granville Street bridges, and then head west on 4th Avenue, Broadway, 10th Avenue or 16th Avenue all the way to UBC.
From YVR Airport: Exit the Arthur Laing Bridge and head west onto Southwest Marine Drive, and follow this road to UBC.
Once at UBC, watch for signs guiding you to MOA. Paid parking can be purchased by cash or credit card. An Evo parking lot is located a 7-minute walk south of MOA.
From downtown Vancouver: Cross the Burrard Street Bridge and exit to the right onto Cornwall Street. Follow to Point Grey Road until NW Marine Drive all the way to UBC.
Please note that this route involves a significant hill, and that Mobi bike shares do not have stations at UBC.
The Curatorial department supports initiatives — including research, exhibitions and publishing — that help to build respectful relationships and mutual understanding with cultural communities represented through MOA’s collections.
MOA is committed to promoting awareness and understanding of culturally diverse ways of knowing the world through challenging and innovative programs and partnerships with Indigenous, local and global communities.
MOA supports the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including originating communities’ right to “maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expression.”
MOA’s Multiversity Galleries bring over 9,000 objects from around the world to public view. In most museums, collections of this magnitude are stored behind-the-scenes—so how exactly does MOA display so many objects within 14,500 square feet?
Stacked beneath an arrangement of towering glass display cases are a series of specially designed, state-of-the-art drawers. With a gentle tug on the long metal handles the drawers roll open, revealing cultural belongings from past and present to explore.
While the Multiversity Galleries’ drawers are designed to display thousands of objects, it is easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to see them all in one visit. If you’re not sure where to begin in exploring the myriad of objects on display, try finding this miniature piece from the Northwest Coast.
Miniature Totem Pole, made by Roy James Hanuse
MOA collection: a17079. Photos by Jessica Bushey.
In marvelling at the minute details of Roy James Hanuse’s carving, you might find yourself asking, “Did someone shrink one of the iconic totem poles displayed in the Great Hall to scale?” Despite measuring only 4.4 centimetres tall and a fraction of a centimetre wide, this Kwakwaka’wakw carving is no small feat. Take a look at the careful rendering of the figures—what appear to be a whale, beaver, raven and eagle have been meticulously carved and painted in black, red and green. If you peer even closer, you will also be able to make out the artist’s initials, RJH, inscribed on the backside of the pole. While primarily self taught, Hanuse was inspired by illustrations of Mungo Martin’s paintings and received some instruction from Doug Cranmer in the 1970s. Around the same time, Hanuse became interested in silkscreening. This tiny totem pole is quite unique, as the majority of Hanuse’s works in the MOA collection include prints and paintings on paper.
Find me in the Multiversity Galleries: Case 31 (leftside), 3rd section, Drawer 2
