Ursulines de Québec Textile Collection

We were having a great debate the other day - mostly about the issue of what universities are for. Should they be directed by society and its needs - goal oriented - or should they be institutions to preserve and cultivate learning and for its own sake. You should have been here! At some point, it was said that it was a bit rich for the universities to believe they were the only sacred arks of culture. And we went on to create a whole list of culture repositories - which included, yes, the internet!

But we also forget when we talk about museums, that there are many more collections that are in places not labelled MUSEUM on the door. There are schools, businesses and banks - in the UK the Railway and Post Office pension funds had some astonishing art collections, local and national trusts, literary and philosophical societies, historical societies, guilds.... the list goes on. And of course, churches. In the UK we lost early on, during the reformation, the wealth of textiles created by convents. But convents continue to exist around the world, and continue to safeguard their textiles. Like the Ursulines in Québec. And here you can see some of those wonderful convent school needleworks.

You can visit from 1 May to 30 September from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. and from 1 October to 30 April from 1.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. Closed on Mondays, Good Friday and Labour Day. Admission is $8 with reductions for students (even elderly students!). Click here for more details.