A FINAL FAREWELL: LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

Letter from the Editor | Jordan Fee & Alexandra Forand

Hello Musings readers! At the Faculty of Information, many changes have occurred over the past couple of weeks due to the precautions taken In response to CoVid-19, but one thing that has remained the same is the Musings! We always strive to provide you with great content throughout the school year, and we have not stopped! We, your outgoing editors-in-chief, wanted to take a moment and reflect on this past semester and acknowledge all the hard work of our team of incredibly talented contributing editors.

Without further ado let’s get started!

Ally: Jordan, has your 2020 been “roaring?”

Jordan: Well, it’s been exciting to say the least! Although the return of the 20s has not been quite as smooth as we might have expected, it is important to remember that this decade holds some incredible potential for all of us in the museum field! We’ve been lucky to feature incredible articles from some of our contributing editors that examine the relationship between the 1920s and our current age. From Natalie’s article about fashion in the 1920’s, to Carys’s exploration of Toronto during this iconic decade, we’ve seen an incredible burst of energy and talent from all of our editors on the Musings team. Even just this week, we published an article by Martin about the Canadian scientist Frederick Banting, who in 1923 won a Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin. Talk about topical!

Photo courtesy of Natalie Heaton

Ally: And for every article that took us back in time, there was an article that looked to current events. A few of my favourites were Michelle’s latest article discussing what museums are doing in the face of the pandemic, Amelia’s article theorizing the queer museum, and Elizabeth’s alumni check in with Kristen McLaughlin where they discussed the evolving role of museums in Canada.

Jordan: Speaking of the evolving role of museums, I was incredibly excited that Defne continued her series on teaching climate change in the museum, as this is perhaps one of the most complicated issues of our time. Knowing that there is a generation of museum workers who are dedicated to exploring difficult topics such as this one makes me incredibly hopeful. While I am sad to be ending my time in the Museum Studies program, I cannot wait to join all of my new colleagues in the professional field!

Also, I would be remiss not to mention the fantastic articles that Madison has produced on the current state of the GLAM sector! Increased collaboration between galleries, libraries, archives and museums is one of the other ways in which our industry can improve, and I feel glad to know that others support this idea as well.

Ally: While we are seeing the evolution of the museum field, it is comforting to know the field is concentrating on improving themselves with the basics. For instance, Jessica showed us simple ways to enhance storage in museums and Jaime showed us how beneficial it can be to bring in visitors to the collection.

Jordan: Also, Samantha, enlightened us on how fundraising effects and is affected by every single person in the museum!

Ally: It certainly is strange knowing that we are so close to completing our time in the program. Even more so, it feels odd to be leaving the Musings team after two years of fun times and community building! I don’t think that either of us expected to be in the role of Editor-in-Chief when we began the program, but now I couldn’t imagine it any other way. Whether we were producing content, running story workshops with our Communications Officer Erika or having end-of-semester brunch celebrations, we took every opportunity to increase Musings’s presence in the Faculty of Information! While we are sad to be leaving our posts, we cannot wait to see what next year’s editors produce!

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☕️🥞Annual Holiday Brunch with the Musings Editorial Team🥞☕️

A post shared by Musings - MMSt Student Blog (@musingsmmst) on Dec 8, 2019 at 12:02pm PST

Jordan: While this semester signalled a lot of endings, we also had a lot of new beginnings. Melissa established a brand new column discussing GLAM and wellness, the Museum Professionals of Color (MPOC) was established and they held their first panel around the theme of “Museum Detox,” and many, many exhibition openings! I particularly enjoyed Elizabeth’s review of the Winnie the Pooh exhibition at the ROM, Mary’s review of Waiting for Snow at the Art Museum of University of Toronto, Dominica and Lindsay’s experience of the "Vertical Intersections Installation, Workshop & Pok¡ Launch," at Mackenzie House, and Erika’s narrative surrounding New Circadia (adventures in Mental Spelunking) at the Design and Architecture Gallery. 

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ICYMI: on Thursday, March 12, MPOC hosted our first ever panel in collaboration with @mussauoft! The goal of our Museum Detox panel was to foster dialogue about removing social barriers in museum and implementing anti-racist praxis. It was an incredible privilege to listen to the perspectives of our three panelists, Wendy Ng, J’net Ayay Qwa Yak Sheelth, and @justjohnforreal. Thank you to everyone who helped us achieve this groundbreaking step in our journey, from our MPOC members, to staff, faculty, and all the beautiful people watching. Here’s to continuing to learn, grow, and change the world together. If you couldn’t be there, not to worry! You can watch the livestream video at the link in our bio ❤️ • • • • #museumstudies #museumhue #diversity #inclusion #museums #uoft #toronto #art #history #culture #intersectionality #museumsarenotneutral

A post shared by Museum Professionals of Colour (@mpoc.uoft) on Mar 16, 2020 at 11:22am PDT

Ally: Speaking of exhibition openings, a number of us second years were involved in researching, curating, and installing our own exhibitions as a part of our final projects for MSL 4000. Check out Carly’s article about the Shelley Peterson Student Exhibition she and her team curated. 

Jordan: How could I forget! It was so rewarding to watch all of the second-year students produce their capstone projects for the program. I feel incredibly lucky to have worked alongside such dedicated and talented individuals, and I cannot wait to see which projects we begin to work on next! Although many of us will be leaving Toronto to return home, I know that we will work collectively to improve the state of museums in Canada. Perhaps we will all be lucky enough to return for the 100th year anniversary of the Museum Studies program, just like we celebrated the 50th in 2019!

Ally: Agreed! As for now we are content with bringing some interesting articles to our readers, whether it be Val teaching us about different digital tools to help museums create applicable and accessible narratives, or Emma brightening our day with stories of historical events, Musings will always be here to catch you up, no matter the circumstances!

With that, we better say our thank you's and goodbyes. We can honestly say being Editors-in-chief of Musings was one of the greatest experiences we had during our time at the Faculty of Information. We want to thank our wonderful team of contributing editors, Erika, our fabulous communications officer (and your incoming Co-Editor-in-Chief with Jaime Meier) , and you, the readers, none of this would be possible without you. 

WE'WHA: AN EXPLORATION INTO AGENCY

Not Your Average Cistory | Amelia Smith

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In 1886, a Zuni Two-Spirit artist visited the Smithsonian. Her name was We’wha. Brought to Washington by ethnologist Matilda Coxe Stevenson, We’wha was able to impart knowledge onto the museum in incredible ways.

A portrait taken of We'wha in 1894. Source

Gender is a weird thing, especially when talking about other culture’s genders. In Zuni culture, We’wha was a lhamana, someone who was assigned male at birth, but would take on the gender roles of women. While this may sound similar to what we in the West understanding of transgender people, it is important not to conflate the two as the lhamana played a significant social and religious role within Zuni society. For the purposes of this article, I will be using she/her pronouns for We’wha.

By all accounts, We’wha was a highly acclaimed artist. Her pottery and weaving skills drew the attention of Coxe Stevenson, who was sent by the Smithsonian to Zuni to document and collect research on the Zuni peoples. As a result, many pieces that were made by We’wha found their way into the Smithsonian collection. Unfortunately, due to the way that the Smithsonian recorded information in their ledgers, We’wha’s role was frequently lost.

We’wha’s  six month visit to Washington and the Smithsonian is truly a fascinating story. For Coxe Stevenson, bringing We’wha to the Capital served two purposes; spark interest in the nascent field of ethnology and to allow for more information to be collected on objects that had already been obtained from the Zuni peoples. Of her time at the Smithsonian, there are two instances that are particularly noteworthy: one involving a loom and another involving prayer feathers.

The loom had previously been collected by the Smithsonian, but it was disassembled upon arriving at the museum and catalogued as individual pieces. As a result, no one at the Smithsonian was aware of how the loom was meant to be used. With We’wha being on the museum's premises, she was able to assemble and use the loom. This was a highly documented moment in both newspaper articles as well as photographic evidence, as We’wha’s activities in the nation’s Capital were the talk of the town. A personal favourite of mine is the photograph of We’wha setting up the loom. In, what appears to be a storage room at the Smithsonian, We’wha is sitting on the floor while the loom is placed upon collection boxes and stepping stools. It is a brilliant contrast that feels out of place for a 19th Century institution.

We'wha and the loom in the Smithsonian. The loom came from the museum's collection. Source

The prayer feathers are a creation by We’wha in a most delightful way. While she was in Washington, the Summer Solstice was coming up and We’wha wanted to perform the traditional Zuni ceremonies that accompanied it. This involved the creation of prayer feathers. While the materials to make these would have been able to be purchased in Washington, Zuni customs forbade acquiring them through any sort of monetary system. This left only one option; the Smithsonian’s collections themselves. In an act that echoes the artist in residence programs of over a century later, the Smithsonian made its storage available for We’wha to use. And that is just what she did. The result was a set of prayer feathers that came from multiple birds local to Zuni as well as shells and dyes. Once the ceremony was performed, the feathers were planted for two days before re-entering the museum as something entirely new. In this way, We’wha was able to recontextualize the museum’s collection, highlighting the overlap between the strict categories that existed in the catalogues.

The prayer feathers that We'wha created to celebrate the Summer Solstice. Source

These are but two examples of We’wha’s time in Washington and this is really only just scratching the surface of her experiences with the museum. Her story is truly remarkable and if this article has piqued your interest, I would highly recommend reading more about her. Her role as not just a subject of the museum but a participant as well, in a time when institutions were predominantly concerned with preserving indigenous material culture without preserving the indigenous peoples themselves, opens up so many discussions that could not possibly be told in this article alone.

For further reading on We'wha, I would recommend:

Issac, Gwyneira. "We'wha Goes To Washington." In Reassembling the Collection: Ethnographic Museums and Indigenous Agency, edited by Rodney Harrison, Sarah Byrne, and Anne Clarke, 143-169. Santa Fe: School For Advanced Research Press, 2013.

Roscoe, Will. The Zuni Man-Woman. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1991.

FREDERICK BANTING: MEDICAL INNOVATOR, AMATEUR ARTIST

Walk Of Fame | Martin Bierens

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Writing this article in March 2020, there is one thing on my mind, and I would wager a bet that it is the same thing that is on everybody’s mind at the moment. It is easy for us to get bogged down in the negatives of the situation, but it is important to remember that this time will pass. For this reason, I have decided to dedicate the final Musings article of my first year to the man who solved one of the biggest medical issues of his time, Canadian medical scientist, and co-discoverer of insulin Frederick Banting.

Dr. Frederick Banting (I guess they hadn't learned smoking was bad yet) Source.

It is extremely hard to overstate the need for insulin. The care was inhumane, starving patients was the typical treatment, known by a more pleasant, and fooling name, dietary restriction. I do not want to get into the science of diabetes, and the pain and suffering it caused. Rather, I think it is more important to humanize what these patients went through as the result of, at the time essentially an untreatable illness. I implore you to listen to a short ten-minute episode of the podcast, The Memory Palace and the story of “Elizabeth,” after which you will understand what this drug means to the people who need it.

Banting first became interested in diabetes in 1920 as a medical student at the University of Western Ontario. Banting read the work of other doctors who had discovered that insulin production and diabetes were related to the pancreas. After extensive, and successful research on animals with fellow co-discoverer Charles Best, in spring 1922, Banting established a private practice in Toronto to treat patients. Banting’s breakthrough earned him, and his fellow researchers, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, in 1923.

The Banting House Museum in London, Ontario. Source.

Unsurprisingly, there are multiple museums dedicated to the life of Frederick Banting and the discovery of insulin. The Banting House Museum is located in his former home in London, Ontario where he lived while working towards his discovery. On the museum's website, they have an amazing section called, "Dear Dr. Banting," an open forum in which people can express their gratitude to him. The page is both inspiring, emotional, and overwhelming all at the same time. The house was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1997. The Banting Interpretation Centre located in Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland, is the other museum dedicated to Banting and focuses on the plane crash that took his life in 1941.

Dr. Frederick Banting (right) and A.Y. Jackson (left) on their sketching expedition along the St. Lawrence River. Source.

What I did not expect of Frederick Banting is that he was actually a prolific amateur artist, with ties to members of the Group of Seven. Banting developed a keen interest in painting starting in 1921, and soon became close friends with A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris. Much like Jackson and Harris, Banting had an interest in depicting Canadian landscapes, and even joined Jackson and Harris on sketching trips, joining Jackson on a trip along the St. Lawrence River into Quebec, and Harris on a trip to the Northwest Territories.

Banting was arguably the best-known amateur painter in the Canadian art-scene by the time of his death in 1941. His work is obviously influenced by the work of Jackson, and Harris. Banting himself actually had an influence on Lawren Harris, the former director of Collections and Research at the AGO, Dennis Reid, said that Banting’s art was certainly, “part of the Jackson story.”

One of Banting's paintings. Source.

Many years after his death, Frederick Banting was voted as the fourth greatest Canadian in 2004, as part of a CBC program, The Greatest Canadian. The only people to top Banting were Tommy Douglas, Terry Fox, and Pierre Trudeau.

Ninety-seven years ago Banting discovered insulin and was rightfully celebrated for the gift he gave humanity. Hopefully, we will soon have someone was can celebrate in the same way we celebrated Banting for their discovery of a cure. It would be amazing to write a Musings article in the future telling you all about the museum that has been set up for this, as of yet, unknown hero. But until then, we can continue to celebrate the medical contributions and art of Frederick Banting.

For more information on Frederick Banting, check out former Musings contributor Kathryn Methot's article Sir Frederick Banting: Doctor, Nobel Laureate, Painter.