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Free admission for kids 12 and under Dec. 27-Jan. 5 | Free entry for all Sundays

See hours

Rental fee: TBD

Space requirements: 278 - 325 square meters (3,000 – 3,500 square feet)

The entrance to a museum exhibit with a graphic panel includes colourful rays and text that reads “Beyond the Beat: Music of Resistance and Change” in English and French. A projected image of a pile of various speakers fills the adjacent wall. Partially obscured.

CMHR, Aaron Cohen

Music has the incredible power to express dissent, challenge authority, promote freedom of expression, unite communities, spark agency and action, and define identities.

Music connects and transforms. It can be a powerful force for social and political change.

An album or even a single lyric can deeply affect a person, an audience or an entire generation. Beyond the Beat showcases artists who have used their talents to promote equality and freedom.

Rhythms, melodies and lyrics move us – to tears, to dance or to rise up against injustice.

Popular music has a long history of uplifting and supporting collective movements and personal struggles for human rights. Beyond the Beat presents historical and contemporary examples of how musicians and audiences have used music to make a difference.

Explore ground‐breaking and history‐making moments where music played a pivotal role in social and political transformation. See legendary instruments and remarkable stage outfits. Interact with dynamic music and video exhibits and experiences. Learn about music that changed the world.

  • Tegan and Sara 
  • Elton John 
  • Laura Jane Grace 
  • Nina Simone
  • Public Enemy 
  • Oscar Peterson 
  • Redbone 
  • Snotty Nose Rez Kids 
  • Ariane Moffatt 
  • Elisapie 
  • Alanis Morissette 
  • Heart 
  • Marvin Gaye 
  • Neil Young 
  • Joni Mitchell 
  • Link Wray
  • Les Cowboys Fringants
A visitor watches a screen placed on a podium-type structure in a Black Lives Matter exhibit while another visitor interacts with a large radio including a screen displaying text. On the wall in front of them are large graphic panels with images and text.
CMHR, Aaron Cohen
A museum exhibit highlights Indigenous musical artists. It contains a glass case displaying a mannequin wearing a mask and a jacket, as well as a screen on a podium-type structure and large graphic panel of text and images on an orange background.
CMHR, Aaron Cohen
Clothing in two display cases, text and bright graphics are displayed on a standalone, curved wall with messages of 2SLGBTQI+ equality. A screen on a podium-type stand is in the centre.
CMHR, Aaron Cohen
Curved couches face a curved theatre-style screen that displays a concert.
CMHR, Aaron Cohen
A visitor uses a disc containing RFID technology to interact with a screen showing a female singer and text. The larger title reads: Promoting the pill.
CMHR, Aaron Cohen
A visitor engages with an interactive wall component made up of small squares with a blue screen in the centre. Light-coloured squares peppered with black ones and grey ones containing text form a circular shape at the centre while squares in shades of red are on the periphery. To the left of the visitor is a graphic panel showing smiling faces.
CMHR, Aaron Cohen

Tour schedule

Venues will be added to the official tour schedule once dates are finalized.

  • Royal BC Museum (Victoria, British Columbia): May 30, 2025 – January 5, 2026

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