Museum of Anthropology at UBC

The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (commonly MOA) is a public museum and research facility in Vancouver that specializes in Indigenous art and material culture, particularly from the Pacific Northwest. The purpose-built building and collections were developed in the 20th century to support education, curation and scholarship.

The university’s collections grew through fieldwork, donations and acquisitions in the 20th century and were consolidated into the present museum building designed by Arthur Erickson and opened in the 1970s. The museum functions as both a public exhibition space and an academic collection for research and teaching.

MOA sits on the UBC Point Grey campus on the west side of Vancouver, a short drive west from downtown Vancouver and positioned near the campus shoreline and green spaces.

• Building and architect: The building was designed by architect Arthur Erickson and opened in the mid-1970s as a purpose-built home for UBC's collections.
• Collection focus: The collection emphasizes Pacific Northwest Indigenous art and material culture and includes thousands of ethnographic and archaeological objects used in research, teaching and exhibitions.

What to See #

• Great Hall: A dramatic timber-and-glass atrium known as the Great Hall that displays large Northwest Coast works including totem poles, house-front carvings and assembled house screen elements in a space designed by Arthur Erickson.
• Permanent galleries: Galleries of Northwest Coast and global Indigenous art that present carved poles, masks, regalia, and ritual objects alongside interpretive displays about materials and cultural context.