The Bank of Canada has recently unveiled a new $10 banknote featuring Viola Desmond, a black Nova-Scotian businesswoman who challenged racial segregation in 1946 by refusing to vacate a "whites-only" area of a theater. To reinforce this pro-human rights message, the reverse side of the bill will feature an image of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, designed by Antoine Predock and completed in 2014.
Ms. Desmond was selected for the $10 bill by Finance Minister Bill Morneau after an open-call to Canadians to nominate an iconic Canadian woman to appear on the redesigned banknote. According to the architect, Antoine Predock, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights "makes visible the fundamental commonality of humankind. The abstract ephemeral wings of a white dove embrace a mythic stone mountain of 450 million-year-old Tyndall limestone culminating in the Tower of Hope."
On the reverse side of the bill, the building serves as the main image acting as a landmark for not only the museum's message but its relationship to the context in which it is situated.
"Our banknotes are designed not only to be a secure and durable means of payment but also to be works of art that tell the stories of Canada. This new $10 fits that bill,” said Governor Poloz.
News via: Antoine Predock Architect.
