What We Hold Participant Callout
December 2025: Celebratory Stories/Holiday Gifts
Overview
The Gulf of Georgia Cannery Society is excited to announce an opportunity for community participation in the August iteration of our What We Hold pop-up installation. The installation is inspired by the themes of the all-new Cannery REcollections exhibit at the Gulf of Georgia National Historic Site in Steveston, BC, which explores the relationships between the objects that our collections hold and the stories that they tell. These items serve as touchstones that connect us to people, places, and historical moments within our communities.
What We Hold shows that everyday, personal objects also hold the stories of our challenges, joys, and connections to one another. As a way to highlight local stories, our installation space will rotate out every month to invite new voices, some examples being Asian Heritage Month, Indigenous History Month, and Disability Pride Month. In honour of Welcoming Week Canada 2025 (September 12-21), September and October’s What We Hold installation will feature the objects and stories of newcomers to Canada and Canadian immigrants, past and present.
Opportunity
Email Tatyana Beck, Curatorial Program Manager with an object and its associated story for the opportunity to be featured in the What We Hold pop-up installation during December 2025. While we are looking to share personal stories and objects, there are no hard rules on what experience the chosen object should highlight. Participants may share a favourite holiday decoration, memorable gift, or special object that holds a story about their holiday memories, traditions, or experiences. Submit a 100–150-word description of your object and the story, memory, or experience that it holds alongside a photo or photos of the object itself. Submissions can range from 100-150 words. If your submission in selected, we will request a picture of the object to be shared in the installation alongside your story.
Have an object you’d be interested in loaning to the Cannery to display physically? You may let Cannery staff know in your submission, and we will work with you to see if a physical display is possible.
How to Submit
Do you have an object that holds a story? Would you like to share it? Send an email to Tatyana Beck, Curatorial Program Manager, at tatyana.beck@gogcannery.org with a picture or description of the item you would like to share and the story connected to it anytime until December 15th, 2025.