Montreal’s Le Miaousée wants to become Canada’s first permanent cat museum | Canada Voices

For about 100 years, the presbytery on De Castelnau street in Montreal’s Villeray borough was home to Catholics who lived and prayed there. Now, the cats are taking over.

From paintings, historic photographs, book covers and shiny stuffed animal eyes, they stare down at visitors from the walls of Le Miaousée, which bills itself as the first cat museum in both Montreal and Canada.

Aqeela Nahani, the museum’s executive director, is all in on cats. She has the image of her 15-year-old rescue cat tattooed on her arm, and recently left a job in the corporate world to focus on launching the cat museum.

Her inspiration came after she read a book about cat heroes who saved lives, and immediately wanted to know more.

“I started researching cat museums, and I found that Canada did not have one,” she said in an interview. “I also found that a lot of cat museums focused on art, which is great. But I felt like there was a need for a space that integrated various aspects of cat culture, including history and science, as well as art.”

The museum is soft-launching with a pop-up exhibit from Sept. 12 to 28. By next year, Nahani hopes to establish a permanent, full-time space dedicated to all things feline.

The exhibit Miaoutréal: The History of Montreal’s Cats includes a series of historic photos going as far back as the 1860s, a book corner, an art gallery space featuring works from local artists, information on rescue organizations and a crafts section, where visitors are invited to write down stories about cats who touched their lives. The exhibit is designed to look like one of Montreal’s alleyways, with plants and winding corners.

There is also a boutique with cat-themed art – including cat hats knit by Nahani – and special guests who will lead art workshops on weekends.

Nahani says Montreal’s history with cats goes back hundreds of years to French colonists, who brought over cats to help manage rodent populations.

The exhibit also includes information about historical events, including what might be the city’s earliest cat show in 1875. Some 50 or 60 felines were exhibited at a skating rink, in an event that was covered by local newspapers, she said.

“It was a fundraiser and 4,000 people showed up,” Nahani said. “There was a live band, nobody could hear it because it was so packed and everyone had an amazing time.”

What there won’t be at the exhibit is real cats – at least this time.

Nahani’s goal is to crowdfund enough to secure a permanent space for the museum by next year. She’s hoping to stay in the presbytery, where she can fill the former nuns’ bedrooms with permanent exhibits dedicated to cat behaviour, rescue stories, and heroic cats, as well as a lounge where visitors can meet and adopt real cats. Some of the nuns who formerly lived in the space are excited to come back to visit, she says.

Quebec has one of the highest percentages of cat ownership in Canada, perhaps the highest, making it a fitting spot for a cat museum. Montreal, in particular, “loves cats,” she said.

“Cats are just part of the life here,” she said. “They’re running around in the alleyways, you see them in windows, and so many businesses integrate cats into their branding or their name, which is not something we necessarily see in other cities.”

However, Nahani says she’s been getting messages from people in Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom who are interested in collaborating or opening their own museums – proof, she says, that a love of cats transcends borders.

“What I’m finding through the exhibit and all of the people that I’ve met is that cats hold a very special place in everyone’s life because it represents something very deep to them in terms of love, resilience, and just overall well-being,” she said.

So far, she says Montrealers seem on board with the museum, with tickets selling well enough that she’s considering adding more days or hours.