Richmond Museum and Heritage Services
Department of Canadian Heritage
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British Columbia Packers - In Their Words: This project tells the story of the company and its people from the workers' perspective and is inspired by a large collection of BC Packers artifacts that were donated to the City of Richmond Museum in 2003. Zero One worked with the City of Richmond, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery Society, Richmond School District No. 38 and many expert volunteers. With financial support from the Canadian Heritage Canadian Culture Online Partnerships Fund, this project presents the cultural history of BC Packers and the various cultural groups that played a role in the fishing/fish processing industry.
Zero One made a conscious effort to tell the story in the voice of the people who worked in the industry, rather than in the voice of academics or bureaucrats. In this project it was necessary to connect an age divergent audience to the old pop culture references and industrial techniques of the BC fishing industry.
Zero One brought the words of the workers to life using video and audio throughout the site. Photographs of actual lockers can be clicked to open revealing cannery artifacts. Once open, audio from an oral recollection told by a BC Packers' employee explains what working for the company was like. Video footage and animations of fishing boats provide a visual representation of fishing techniques from above and below the water. Cultural context is provided by audio clips of radio jingles and by packaging for products that have appeared on Canadian grocery shelves over the years.