Cats have been paw-pular topics in artwork from the Historical Egyptians via to Leonardo da Vinci’s detailed sketches of felines and Theophile Steinlen’s iconic poster for Le Chat Noir Cabaret, however the cat museum is a comparatively new phenomenon. Even so, there a formidable variety of these single-purr-pose establishments, from the DBKU Cat Museum in Malaysia to the KattenKabinet in Amsterdam and the Moscow Cat Museum. (And naturally, the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg has its historic squad of feline guards.)
Now Canada is getting in on the feline museum pattern with the Montreal debut of Le Miaousée, a play on the French phrases for “meow” and “museum”. The brainchild of the cat-loving cultural entrepreneur Aqeela Nahani, the museum goals to showcase all issues feline, have fun “the bond between cats and people” and help rescue cat charities.
The establishment’s tender launch will characteristic a pop-up exhibition within the metropolis’s fashionable Little Italy district subsequent month, Miaoutréal: The Historical past of Montreal’s Cats (12-28 September). The present will chronicle Montreal’s feline historical past, from the primary cats’ arrivals throughout the colonial period to their surreptitious presence throughout historic occasions, modern rescue efforts and extra.
The exhibition will comprise archival pictures of Montrealers and their cats, some courting again to the 1860s; a take a look at Montreal’s first cat present in 1875; plus cat-themed occasions throughout the many years anda tribute to animal rescue organisations—together with the Montreal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, based in 1869. The exhibition can even characteristic cat-inspired modern artwork by Montreal-based artists together with Sylvain Amblard, Andréanne Lupien and Linda Luttinger. Additionally featured shall be pictures of avenue artwork from the town’s Alley Cat Gallery.
Every weekend throughout the run of the present the Réseau Secours Animal will host a fundraising market that includes native artists, distributors and a tattoo artist providing cat-inspired tattoos on-site, with proceeds supporting the organisation’s rescue operation.
“We’re laying the muse for a everlasting cat museum in 2026,” Nahani says, “which is able to embrace everlasting and rotating reveals, a cat lounge for adoptable rescue cats and a boutique stuffed with cat-themed merchandise.”
Whereas most present cat museums focus totally on artwork, Nahanis says, “Le Miaousée will deliver collectively a wealthy mixture of cat-related fields (artwork, science, standard tradition, animal welfare and historical past), creating an area as numerous and dynamic as cats themselves.”
To help the challenge financially, the pop-up exhibition shall be accompanied by a fundraising marketing campaign on the Québecois crowdfunding platform La Ruche. Nahani provides: “We additionally plan to pursue grants and company sponsorships, utilizing the exhibit’s success as proof of the museum’s relevance and significance to Montreal.”
Miaoutréal: The Historical past of Montreal’s Cats, 12-28 September, Le Miaousée pop-up area, 215 Rue de Castelnau East, Montreal
