The next generation of Indigenous athletes have had new doors opened for them this past weekend, as the world’s first immersive Indigenous sport gallery recently opened its doors on April 19th 2024. The gallery offers a unique virtual reality experience at the BC Sports Hall of Fame. The purpose of the Digital Indigenous Sport Gallery (DISG) is to spotlight the accomplishments and contributions of Indigenous athletes and coaches throughout sports history and culture.
A big congratulations to the entire @BCSportsHall team for the successful launch of its fully immersive Digital Indigenous Sport Gallery. There were plenty of media on site today to check out the state of the art virtual reality experience pic.twitter.com/uS2I3EIyD5
— LBMG_Van (@LBMG_Van) April 15, 2024
The BC Sports Hall of Fame established the DISG to create the most comprehensive digitization project globally. The gallery is fully accessible, allowing visitors to experience stories from across the province and around the world come to life. The gallery has many unique features that make it as amazing as it is. When visiting, you’ll notice the key feature being a 360-degree virtual tour of the gallery, offering exclusive content not available in the physical space that includes video profiles of 14 featured athletes and honoured members, along with 3D interactive artifacts. Along with this, the gallery has won two awards in its time, the 2019 Canadian Museums Association Award of Outstanding Achievement in the Exhibition category, and the 2019 Best New Exhibit in the world by the International Sports Heritage Association.
The Indigenous Sport Gallery expands on the Hall’s earlier exhibits showcasing Indigenous contributions to BC sport heritage, including the First Peoples Gallery (1992) and Aboriginal Sport Gallery (2008). With support from their founding partners, including the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council (I-SPARC), the City of Vancouver, the Province of British Columbia, and their donors, the Digital Indigenous Sport Gallery has been realized to enhance youth access to the inspiring stories within the Indigenous Sport Gallery. In a release, CEO of the BC Sports Hall of Fame Michelle Kitchen made it known that she could not be more thankful to everyone who helped make this possible.
“We are tremendously grateful to the Government of Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Province of British Columbia, BC Arts Council and individuals who donated through the 100 Ravens program to bring this remarkable initiative to life,” Michelle Kitchen, CEO, BC Sports Hall of Fame.
The DISG is an amazing piece of technology, and is great for anyone looking to expand their knowledge on Indigenous sports and culture. You can check out this gallery at the BC Sports Hall of Fame, located at BC Place (gate a) 777 Pacific Blvd, Vancouver. The gallery is available to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Tuesday. Tickets are $12-$20, and children under four get in for free with a parents admission.