VIDEO GAME NARRATIVES IN EXHIBIT DESIGN: THE THESIS OF ANDREY MINTCHEV

Final Project Reflections | Caitlin McCurdy

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The number of students who choose to do the thesis stream of the MMSt program is considerably smaller than those who choose the exhibition project route. One of these students is Andrey Mintchev, and he very kindly took the time to answer some of my questions about his path to the thesis stream.

His decision to pursue a thesis occurred after taking Velian Pandeliev’s course INF2164H: UX Research and Design for Video Games. He described the class as a study of the positive impact that UX-forward thinking has on elements such as level design and gameplay in video games. He then thought to himself, “Is anyone doing this in museum studies? How awesome would it be if museums felt like videogames?” As he discussed this idea with Prof. Pandeliev and continued learning more about human-computer interactive (HCI) sciences and their research methods, he realized that there wasn’t a particular class on this topic, and that his new conception of an amalgamation of gaming and museology would be best realized in a thesis. 

Courtesy of Andrey Mintchev.

Andrey has a very interesting story about how he came to meet his thesis supervisor, Tony Tang:

“I was waiting for the light to go green on Saint George and Bloor, when I overheard a conversation between two people, who were discussing something about AR. The one guy responded with a “I don’t know Tony, but that sounds interesting” and I immediately assumed that it was Tony Tang. I sheepishly interrupted with a “hi, sorry, but are you Tony Tang? I want to talk to you about turning museums into a VR world”, to which he pleasantly offered up his email.

Andrey then fulfilled his research methods course requirement with a reading course overseen by Prof. Tang, where he was able to make connections between HCI and museology and began to work out his ideas for his thesis. Andrey’s final thesis proposal was the fourth or fifth iteration of his initial idea, and it was at this point that he approached Costis Dallas about being his second reader.

When I asked Andrey for the elevator pitch for the current iteration of his thesis, he was kind enough to give me the short elevator ride pitch, the slightly longer elevator ride pitch, and the elevator ride to the penthouse pitch. Here’s what he said:

“My thesis is on applying videogame level design and narrative design to exhibit design. What I’ve done is record 14 hours of gameplay between five games that boast a compelling narrative, recorded every instance where the story was being conveyed and what the level in that moment looked like, and then produced 598 lines of code to synthesize each screenshot into qualitative data. The idea is to use my synthesized data to identify the best practices for level design and narrative design and apply them to the reinterpretation of an existing museum exhibit. The final deliverable should produce a compelling exhibit that improves on the existing one.”

Courtesy of Andrey Mintchev

This all sounds very fascinating to me, as someone doing an almost entirely theoretical thesis based in historical research and epistemological philosophizing. I’m excited to see the final product of Andrey’s work, I think his research could definitely shed light on how video game practices could innovate our approaches to exhibit design.

Courtesy of Andrey Mintchev

I asked Andrey to give one tip for prospective students considering the thesis stream, and his answer was very insightful.

“There is no right or wrong stream at our school, but if you’ve got this awesome idea, I promise you that our faculty will do everything it can to help [you] walk out of this program with a publication that you’ll be proud of.”

Ultimately, if you have an idea you can’t get out of your head that you’ve brought into the program with you, you can make the thesis stream work for you, and you control the subject, process, and end result of your work, with insight along the way from your very knowledgeable supervisor(s). Andrey also pointed out that this control is fairly unique to the thesis stream, as the final exhibition project is subject to variables like the makeup of your student group and the flexibility of your industry partner. To give Andrey the last word, “Real-talk, it’s the most academically satisfying thing you can do if you hate group work.”

A GIFT GUIDE FOR MUSEUM PEOPLE

Beyond Tradition | Erika Serodio

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As our first semester comes to a close, many of the first year Museum Studies students have remarked on the joy of being surrounded by so many like-minded people in our program. There are obvious characteristics that draw people to this field. If you’re reading this blog, you probably have Museum People in your life. And if you need a gift for that special someone, you should keep in mind that we like cultural experiences, we have an affinity for the tactile, and we are drawn to aesthetics. Read on for a few gift ideas for your new (or old) museum friends.

EXPERIENCES

Museum people love to take part in cultural activities. We enjoy watching eclectic films (note the use of the word films, not movies) and we like to do so in old elegant theatres like the newly opened Paradise on Bloor. A gift card for a night out at the theatre would be a real treat this winter. Or better yet – just buy tickets and drag your museum friend to the show you want to see!

Paradise Theatre on Bloor | Source 

An annual pass to a museum like the AGO would be a great gift for the museum people in your life. But the museum people in your life might already have a pass… in which case you should get tickets for one of the many talks and events put on by some of the great institutions in your city. Who wouldn’t want to spend an evening at the ROM learning about The Human History of the Mosquito?

TACTILE

Museum people prefer flipping pages to scrolling. Encourage this tactile habit with a subscription to an arts and culture magazine like Canadian Art or Frieze!

Photograph courtesy of Erika Serodio.

Should we keep our agendas on our phones and laptops like the rest of our technologically advanced society? Maybe. But museum people tend be old school and impractical. We write down our plans on paper. And the crowd favourite in museum studies classrooms seems to be the Moleskine.

After we manually check off every item on this week's to-do list, museum people return to flipping pages for pleasure. An artsy coffee table book would be much appreciated! I recently gifted one from this gift guide in a Museum Studies gift exchange. Each book on this list is recommended by an artist, collector, gallerist, or curator.

ART 

And last, but not least, museum people do not have blank walls. Add to their personal collection with something aesthetically pleasing.

The Champs by Stephanie Cheng | Source 

Stephanie Cheng is a Toronto-based designer with designs that are infused with local landmarks and people. You can buy from her online store or from one of several shops who stock her work.

Mass by Annie Axtell | Source

Annie Axtell is a printmaker and artist who works out of Vancouver. She makes some seriously sublime art. You can buy her prints online or pick up one of her infamous lunar calendars at this shop in Toronto.

One last thing to remember about museum people is that they value the intangible just as much as the tangible. The gift of your time is never wasted on them. You could take your museum people to free events like this gallery party at the Power Plant or go an adventure in mental spelunking at the new Architecture and Design Gallery. Whether you're shopping or not this season, be sure to spend some time with your museum people. 

REACHING OUT; REACHING IN: ALUMNI CHECK-IN

Alumni Check-In | Elizabeth Cytko

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University College and King's Circle. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Cytko

As a new museum studies student, starting this degree can be overwhelming. A few of the things occupying your time include: learning all the theory, discovering free food events, project management, the names of your cohort and participating in extracurricular activities (and yes I am going to pretend riding the TTC counts as extracurricular.)

One of the first things you learn is that there are a lot more jobs in the museum industry than is “advertised” in popular culture. So many jobs, so little time, and how do you even begin to discover the pros and cons of each one?!

Being a student gives you a secret super power, which I suggest you use – Student Status.

via GIPHY

 Professional interviews are one of the best ways to make connections, make new friends, and discover potential paths for your career. Student status means having an excuse as to why you want to reach out to professionals in the field, and ask them what their job is about.

I know this from personal experience. For the past 9 months I have had the privilege to interview alumni from the Museum Studies program. This means I reached out to persons (who often I had never met before!) to ask them what life is like after graduation. The alumni have been friendly, gracious, and eager to share their experience.

Human impact on environment comes in all sorts of forms. Museum preservation is beyond objects, and includes complicated discussions. For example, how could a museum professional raise awareness for the need to preserve native prairie landscapes? Canola Field, Alberta. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Cytko

Initially, what I had felt to be rather scary and intimidating has turned into a column I look forward to initiating. Who can I ask next? What exciting things are happening out in the field? Even though these alumni are across the continent and working in different museums, many of their concerns are shared. Through interviews, themes such as the environment, decolonization and technology are all repeated again and again. My eyes have been opened to the fact that the museum community is tight knit and comes together to work on some of the most complicated issues.

Some of the alumni have even thrown down challenges for the museum professionals (new and old) to tackle.

Kate Wolforth asks us to consider the waste of exhibitions, and what happens to the signage, packaging, and materials used afterwards. Is it justifiable that so much ends up in the dump?

Roderick MacLean asks how historic sites (and museums in general) can adapt to the longer visitor seasons due to global warming. Will it be the new trend to hire past the Summer season, into the Fall?

And Deborah Robichaud tasks new professionals to incorporate environmental scans into their daily practice, and ask “What are the big issues in the world and how do they affect museums?”

I am excited to present you the new interviews in this upcoming semester, and I hope that you too are inspired to reach out to the alumni network. Remember, in a few short years, you will be an alumnus, and a nervous student might reach out to you!


If you want to reach out to me, feel free to!

elizabeth.cytko@mail.utoronto.ca

MAKING MUSINGS PART 3: THINGS I LEARNED WHILE EDITING MUSINGS

Letter from the Editor | Natania Sherman

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This is the third post of a five part series in celebration of the Master of Museum Studies program at the University of Toronto's 50th anniversary (MMSt50). To reflect on Musings' past, present, and future, we invited all previous Editors-in-Chief to return to Musings to write special Letter from the Editor posts. These articles will highlight the significance of Musings both within the MMSt program, and for writers' professional careers. Natania Sherman was the third Editor-in-Chief of Musings from 2016-2017.

It’s been a few minutes Lovely Musings’ Readers! I bet you weren’t expecting to see me here again! I am honoured to contribute an article for MMSt50. Aaaaaand a little intimidated to be following two amazing former EIC’s (who just happen to be two of my #GLAM industry girl-crushes). I hope I can do Madeline and Jaime proud by sharing some of my experiences during and after my time as the 2016-2017 Musings' Editor-in-Chief.

The Musings Panel at the 2017 iSchool Conference. L to R: Musings writers Kristen McLaughlin, Erika Robertson, Natania Sherman, and Chris Wai. Photo courtesy of Anja Hamilton.

I knew I wanted to write for Musings as early as my orientation at the iSchool. But I didn’t know what I was getting into when I ran for Musings EIC, until I was suddenly standing in front of a room of 21 expectant student writers all looking to me to train and support them. No pressure, right?

In 2016, the blog was at the crossroads between being an upstart student blog and a professional industry platform. The number of contributing editors had quadrupled, and the blog was gaining attention from industry professionals both locally and internationally. The increased attention meant that editing was a constant pressure! Correcting spelling and grammar is hard enough. I also responded to external copyright questions, scheduled a variety of museological content, and coached writers on how to get the most impact with each article.

OMA Conference Selfies, L-R: Anja Hamilton, Kate Seally, Natania Sherman and Emily Berg.
Photo courtesy of Natania Sherman.

Balancing the blog, school, and my 3 jobs, meant that I was always juggling different priorities. With a team of 21 contributing editors, I was reliant on Musings’ roster of volunteers. I was so grateful that my cohort committed to producing exciting content. Editing Musings taught me that a group of people with a passion for what they do can produce something much greater than what I could do on my own.

Some of my proudest moments as Musings’ EIC were attending the Ontario Museum Association (OMA) Conference in 2016, sharing an article recapping the experience, and leading our own panel discussion about Musings at the iSchool Conference in 2017. These experiences highlighted how writing for Musings could develop connections between students and professionals. The iConference opened up lots of interesting discussions about the future of Musings. Imagine a Musings podcast or Youtube channel, more press opportunities, more outreach to industry professionals. Your academic workload is your only limit, future EIC’s!

I’m also extremely proud of a column I created called She’s My Muse dedicated to women in museums. This project gave me an outlet for my feminist values and it’s been exciting to see that after I graduated some students have chosen to re-interpret the byline. Many writers in my cohort were able to push the boundaries of their chosen bylines in very creative ways ranging from developing an interactive conservation flowchart to writing a three part series examining the conservation issues around the Dakota Access Pipeline. I’m glad I was able to foster an environment where writers could be their most creative selves, and I gained so much knowledge on a range of subjects by reading their work. I hope that you, Lovely Readers, feel the same!

Since graduating from the iSchool, I have have worked in collections management, first at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and currently, as Collections and Services Manager at the TIFF Film Reference Library where I manage library operations and over-85 special collections. Unlike my Musings predecessors, I no longer write for social media professionally. However, the skills I gained from Musings have helped my career. Editing Musings was a crash course in writing for an audience. Although I rarely use social media at work, I do write annual reports, prepare project pitches, publish artifact descriptions to the web, and correspond with my colleagues. Musings has a niche audience of graduate students and museum professionals, and I spent most of 2016-2017 thinking about what kind of writing voice could best engage that audience. After a year of focusing on writing for the Musings’ audience, it became much easier to engage with different “audiences” such as senior staff and board members in the workplace.

Becoming the Editor-in-Chief for Musings also prepared me for taking on management positions in cultural organizations. At Musings, I had the difficult role of being in a mentorship position with my peers while also learning “on the job” myself. Turns out, coaching Musings writers was the ideal practice for coaching interns and direct reports in the workplace. When I made the transition to leadership, I already had some experience knowing when to ask my colleagues the hard questions and when a strategic coffee outing was necessary (answer: always, coffee is essential). I learned that management is not about already knowing the answers, but about learning as you go and being willing to listen to your colleagues.

Source.

I want to end my article by thanking the faculty and staff at the iSchool. Musings was my outlet and my community during the 2 years of my graduate degree and I’m so grateful that the iSchool fostered student initiatives like Musings. Here’s to another 50 years of the MMSt program!

“THIS IS NOT JUST A GRAB-BAG CANDY GAME”: WHY MUSEUMS SHOULD LOOK TO DIY

She’s My Muse | Kathleen Lew

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As my time at UofT is coming to an end, it has become increasingly important for me to look to my peers for insight and support in the process of shaping my practice as a museum professional and feminist. After covering Atleigh Homma’s If I’ve Been Enveloped in Tenderness (Curated by MMSt candidate Kesang Nanglu), I felt inspired to find other cool projects women in MMSt are accomplishing and discuss their take on intersectional feminism in the arts & culture sector.

My last post was a conversation with Margin of Eras Gallery, which highlighted the importance of DIY spaces in Toronto to support marginalized artists. DIY projects are community-driven platforms that support underrepresented groups through artistic appreciation and experimentation. Lately I’ve been exploring how DIY spaces can foster intersectional feminist communities. I’ve also wondered how DIY projects can contribute to a museum practice.

It became clear that Melina Mehr (MMSt candidate, web developer, writer, and zine-maker) was the person to speak to. Melina founded invisibilities a series of self-published zines that seek to make visible narratives that have been omitted or erased, and act as a platform for marginalized groups to expand their creative networks. After being involved in small DIY communities for nearly ten years, Melina sought to fill a gap of diversity and intersectionality she found in Toronto zines.

invisibilities issue No. 1. Photo courtesy of Melina Mehr.

Read our conversation below:*

Why do you think DIY culture in the arts is important?

In a lot of ways, it seems like one of the few genuine outlets left to share work. You’re not relying on other people’s money, and therefore don’t need to satisfy the particular preferences, requirements, or politics of the organizations or people who are paying you. It’s entirely up to the artist to create whatever they want without barriers or filters.

How do DIY projects complement and/or challenge your more traditional museum practice/studies?

DIY projects provide the space for experimentation and are anti-capitalist in nature and practice. It challenges traditional museum structures in that they don’t require donor funding, which in turn affects the work created, as mentioned above. It complements museum practice in that DIY projects allow for community building, conversation, and network growth in a similar way to an institution’s educational and public programming. Curators and interpretive planners also have the ability to be radical in their work by rejecting the colonial frameworks that museums did and still do function within.

Both issues No. 1 and 2 of invisibilities directly call for writing and visualizations from womxn, why was this an important distinction for you?

The distinction to only include work from womxn for Issue No. 1 was important because it related to the medical field, which has a history of violently under-representing, misrepresenting, and generally misguiding womxn — particularly womxn of colour. Womxn’s experiences of navigating healthcare and dealing with doctors is vastly different than the experiences of men, so I wanted to highlight that. Issue No. 2 relates more to creating a space for histories and narratives which have often been unacknowledged or unrecorded. I have never described invisibilities zine as a project explicitly for womxn by womxn, but rather as an attempt to uncover certain narratives, which so far, have been by womxn. That doesn’t mean I won’t open up submission to all genders in the future. But I do like the idea of someone picking up the zine and perhaps not even initially clicking in to the fact that all the content has been created by womxn. Where it becomes so natural that it doesn’t need to be stated.

“’What does she do all day?’ Reflections on isolation and the cycle of healing incurable illness” by Amanda Lovell (invisibilities issue No.1). Photo courtesy of Melina Mehr.

How does your gender inform your creative practice (in museums, with invisibilities)?

Being a woman does not necessarily inform my practice as much as being a woman of colour does. The intersections between race, gender, and class are deeply rooted and not often recognized in much of the contemporary political discourse. In all the work I do, both professionally and personally, I try to put inclusivity and access at the forefront. I often refer back to this quote by Toni Morrison, who said, “When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.”

Has a community formed around invisibilities? What does that look like?

The launch for Issue No. 1 was so unbelievable that I still can’t wrap my head around it. It was at Wise Bar in Bloordale. I wanted to choose a fully accessible space (which is few and far between!!!) and Wise Bar’s cozy atmosphere seemed like the perfect spot for my expected turnout of maybe 20 people. Before the readings even started, we were beyond capacity and had to turn away folks for the rest of the night! Over 100 people ended up coming out and the zine’s first run of 80 sold out. It was wild! That felt like a community event because all the contributors got to meet each other, I got to meet them for the first time, and the space was just full of conversation and connection. The community since then has mainly been through the Instagram account. I am still trying to think of more ways for people to connect. I’ll get messages on IG or emails from people who have read the zine, but I want there to be a way for those comments to reach publicly so that all the contributors know how important their work has been for others.

View this post on Instagram

Wow, what an exceptional evening ✨ We doubled capacity by 7pm, the room was full of shared experiences and community vibes, and the readings were incredibly honest and touching. The first edition of Issue No. 1 is almost completely sold out, with only a couple prints left. If you didn’t get a chance to snag one, find the link in bio. My deepest thanks to everyone involved. Contributors, readers, friends who offered help and support, and Wise Bar for hosting. 🧡

A post shared by invisibilities zine (@invisibilitieszine) on Oct 17, 2018 at 8:04am PDT

Can you tell me a bit about the theme for issue No. 2 and what it means to you?

The theme centers on stories of womxn from the diaspora and immigrant families as a way to record transgenerational memories and reflections of identity. The themes in each issue also relate to myself (it would be a bit odd to create a platform for a group that I have no knowledge about or experience with myself, no?) Both of my parents are immigrants, and my family members have these unbelievable stories of escaping Iran during the Revolution as religious refugees. I have been making an effort to record some of those stories, as my grandmothers are getting quite old now. I know other people have similar experiences, so I thought an issue focused on these kinds of transnational memories and how they shape people’s own identities would be valuable.

Who are your museum muses in Toronto?

People I’ve worked with at the AGO who I also currently work with at MOCA in the visitor experience teams have been amazing. They’re so dedicated to creating positive interactions with visitors and producing fun and engaging tours. The ladies over at Margins of Eras Gallery and CUE are really active in changing the landscape of museums (although I’ve never personally met any of them). My OG muse is my friend Khristine, who graduated from MMSt a few years ago and was the one who helped me figure out the steps I needed to take in order to grow more in the field. She shares my sentiments about decolonizing art institutions and trying to think more progressively in how we approach our jobs. Anytime I find myself struggling in the field, she’s a great person to talk to. My non-Toronto shoutouts are to the three female directors of Studio Museum Harlem and Kimberly Drew in NYC, and the ladies running the programming at Alserkal Avenue and Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai.

 invisibilities issue No. 1 open to film photograph of Krystle Nacion, one of 5 womxn Melina interviewed. 
Photo courtesy of Melina Mehr. 

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

MAKING MUSINGS PART 2: STRENGTHENING A FOUNDATION, SHAPING A PROFESSIONAL TRAJECTORY

Letter from the Editor | Madeline Smolarz

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This is the second post of a five part series in celebration of the Master of Museum Studies program at the University of Toronto's 50th anniversary (MMSt50). To reflect on Musings' past, present, and future, we invited all previous Editors-in-Chief to return to Musings to write special Letter from the Editor posts. These articles will highlight the significance of Musings both within the MMSt program, and for writers' professional careers. Madeline Smolarz was the second Editor-in-Chief of Musings from 2015-2016.

This is my 25th article for Musings, and quite likely my last for a long time.

I was a Musings’ contributing editor under the leadership of pioneering Editor in Chief (EiC) Jaime Clifton-Ross from 2014-2015 before becoming EiC of Musing myself from 2015-2016. I’m the second EiC to write a retrospective of my time with the blog in celebration of Musings’ 5 years of outstanding history, and I’m both thrilled and proud to have the privilege to return.

I knew I had massive, if not astronomical shoes to fill taking on this role following Jaime. You’ve already read her wonderful reflection piece, so you know what I’m talking about! Though altering the formula she had perfected in any way terrified me, the number of contributing editors grew and the number of columns we published did as well. As much as my contributors (patiently) allowed, I did my best to be an involved and supportive EiC. For example, my dear friend and Historic Kitchen writer Leah Moncada let me taste-test her cooking escapades, while another equally lovely friend and Sew What writer Anya Baker interviewed me for a piece discussing curating personal style.

L to R – Leah Moncada, Anya Baker, and Madeline Smolarz at the 2016 MMSt Year End Party hosted at Campbell House.
Photo courtesy of Madeline Smolarz.

As I cast my mind back to some of my other memorable moments of my time as EiC, my most ambitious blog post was definitely “3 Exhibitions In 1 Day, Brought To You By Canada’s National Museums.” I remember having this thought as I conceived of the trip from Toronto to Ottawa; as I sat on the train,; as I tromped around Ottawa in winter,; and as I wrote that beast of a post. No one else had ever written a review of three exhibitions at once, and as tricky as it was to bring all of those threads together at times, it was such a thrill of a challenge that I’d do it all over again!

Ottawa in the winter is no joke, but I would climb mountains of snow to spend a day in one of Canada’s national museums any time. Photo courtesy of Madeline Smolarz.

Musings has without a doubt positively impacted my professional life. Musings gave me the opportunity to transform my academic skills to writing and editing for the public about something I sincerely loved in an accessible, entertaining, and educational manner. I believe that every piece of writing I’ve produced since, from exhibition text to emails to colleagues, has been coloured by the way in which my Musings’ experience elevated my abilities. The social media skills I gained were also immensely useful. After completing the MMSt program, I started working at the Craigleith Heritage Depot, where I had to establish a media presence from scratch. I would’ve been overwhelmed if it wasn’t for my year overseeing the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages my predecessor Jaime had already established.

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Starting off #snbTO at @gardinermuseum with "Silent Knight"! #musingsmmst #lego #sculpture

A post shared by Musings - MMSt Student Blog (@musingsmmst) on Oct 3, 2015 at 4:16pm PDT

Above is the first of several posts I shared to Musings’ Instagram when I led the first live-gram session in its history during Nuit Blanche 2015.

I’ve since taken my writing and social media abilities to Ruthven Park National Historic Site - where I led nearly all communications as Operations Coordinator - and to the City of Kingston, where I currently work overseeing operations at three museums and historic sites. The portfolio of excellent writing that I cultivated, the skills that were fostered by my roles with Musings, and the passion for leadership that I developed have absolutely been a huge benefit and confidence-booster for me as I’ve pursued my career in Ontario’s museum world thus far.

Madeline Smolarz on the job at the City of Kingston’s MacLachlan Woodworking Museum in July 2018.
Photo courtesy of Francesca Pang.

As I can now not seem to live without blogging, I’m currently serving a three-year term (2016-2019) as the Communications Chair of the Group of Ontario Emerging Museum Professionals (GOEMP) Committee; one of my responsibilities is overseeing the GOEMP Website’s Blog. At the time of writing this blog post, we’ve partnered with Fleming College’s Museum Management and Curatorship program to share 4 exceptional pieces of writing by current students on various museological topics. To borrow Marie Kondo’s phrase, it sparks joy in me to broadcast emerging museum professionals’ voices in this way, and I hope to continue to have a hand in it for many years to come in order to keep paying my experience forward.

L to R – Alison Ward, Lisa Terech, Diane Pellicone, Madeline Smolarz, and Will Hollingshead representing the 2016-2019 GOEMP Committee at the 2017 Ontario Museum Association Conference in Kingston, Ontario.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Terech.

I’d like to close with some thank yous, just like I did in my farewell blog post published on April 9, 2016.

Dr. Irina Mihalache: You are the ultimate champion of Musings, and the blog certainly wouldn’t be what it is now without your support. I will always consider you to be one of my most influential mentors. Thank you for your guidance.

Jaime Clifton-Ross: I wouldn’t be who I am today without the chance you gave me to write for Musings in 2014, and for your incredible friendship the past number of years. You are my sister in spirit and truly the patron saint of bloggers! Thank you for everything.

L to R – Madeline Smolarz and Jaime Clifton-Ross. Photo courtesy of Kellen Ross.

Musings’ Editors in Chief from 2016-2019: You folks are trailblazers, and I look at everything you’ve done for the blog with such happiness. Thank you for picking up the torch.

Till we meet again.

MMSt 2018: THESIS PROJECTS

RESEARCH COLUMN

BY: SERENA YPELAAR

Hello Musings readers! This special post is the first in a series of installments featuring the work of the MMSt Class of 2018. This weekend, we're catching up with our brilliant thesis students to see what research they've been working on for their degree. Read on below to hear about their projects!

The​ ​Future​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Past:​ ​Third-Party​ ​Heritage​ ​Preservation​ ​Interventions​ ​and 3D​ ​Printing Technologies
Sydney Stewart Rose

Supervisor: Dr. Cara Krmpotich
Second reader: Dr. Seamus Ross, former Dean of the iSchool

Dry-dusting at work, where I specialize in intellectual property rights and copyright laws (a key aspect of my thesis research). Photo courtesy of Sydney Stewart Rose.

My project examines the use of 3D printing technologies in projects which seek to recreate cultural property destroyed in Syria by ISIS. I was really interested in thinking about the ways these types of projects may create new heritage narratives or potentially contribute to colonizing narratives. I’ve been looking at three high profile cases which use 3D printing technologies to restore cultural property destroyed by ISIS. I’m using them to create a framework to consider how these types of projects may actually contribute to colonizing narratives and offer insight into a decolonizing approach to third-party heritage intervention projects.

Close to Home: Alberta’s Local Museums on Canada’s Cultural Landscape

Kristen McLaughlin 

Supervisor: Dr. Cara Krmpotich
Second reader: Siobhan Stevenson 

I don't really have any photos of myself at work, but for my research I visited each museum, camping along the way to get a better feel for the local landscape. However, as you can see, that meant I didn't really look very glamorous for a few months. Here I am in my first campsite in the Crowsnest Pass in the Rockies of Southern Alberta, with a bit of a smoky background from all the surrounding forest fires of 2017. Photo courtesy of Kristen McLaughlin.

For the past year and a half, I’ve studied the community engagement practices of local museums, using three case studies in Alberta to better understand these distinct contexts. I’m interested in this aspect of museum studies because, as someone who did not grow up with the large urban institutions we are familiar with in this program, I noticed that local museums stories are not common in museum studies literature and work. I felt that it was important to acknowledge and try to understand the relationships between local museums and their communities—both the obstacles and the successes—and what this might mean on a larger scale.

Research possible thanks to the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation.

Affective Metadata for Object Experiences in the Art Museum
Erin Canning

Supervisor: Dr. Costis Dallas
Second reader: Dr. Cara Krmpotich

Affective metadata workshop at the 2018 iSchool Student Conference. Photo courtesy of Hannah Monkman.

For my thesis, I am exploring how to structure information about visitor experiences so that we can document it similar to how we catalogue objects – how that information can be made amenable to integration into a database, what that database would look like, and what that information would look like once it was in there. I am interested in the affective experiences that museum visitors have with artworks, and using data modeling as a way to really understand those experiences. My thesis draws together my experience as a CRO: I am applying the information systems design principles from my MI degree in the museum domain. 

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I'm in awe of these three talented MMSt/CRO students and their dedication to such extensive and important research. Excellent job Sydney, Kristen, and Erin - thank you for sharing!

Stay tuned for next weekend's article, where we'll feature the first batch of exhibition projects in the MMSt Class of 2018! 

MMSt DAY TRIPPERS PART III: MARKHAM

WEEKEND EDITION

BY: MMSt GUEST BLOGGER KATHLEEN VAHEY

For the third and final time, I’ll be giving you a recap of the final MMSt day trip! On Friday, February 23rd, a handful of iSchool students braved what seemed like the only cold day in February and made the trek north to Markham. 

MMSt students listening to the staff at Markham Museum. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Vahey. 

Our first stop was the Markham Museum, where we learned about how the institution is changing their interpretation strategies and redefining their curatorial approach to the onsite historic buildings to be more engaging for its existing audiences. 

Laetitia, Nicole, and Emma participating in the
digital scavenger hunt at Markham Museum.
Photo courtesy of Kathleen Vahey.

After hearing a bit about the history of the museum and City of Markham, we got to explore parts of the 25-acre site all while participating in a digital survey about their curatorial decisions. The answers from this survey will help museum staff understand visitor perspectives.

After a quick lunch, we journeyed to the nearby Varley Art Gallery. There, we were provided with a tour of the gallery spaces and engaged in interesting discussions with the Gallery’s curator.

We were also given a tour of the collections storage area, where we were presented with two relevant ‘case studies’, aka real issues or problems the museum has faced and how they have dealt with them. Students were encouraged to think and respond to the case studies as well. Finally, we were given an introduction to the educational and public programming side of the Gallery as well.

Varley Art Gallery curator Anik Gaude speaks to MMSt & CRO students about the travelling exhibition on display. Photo courtesy of Kathleen Vahey.

Despite the cold temperature and the freezing rain, the day was full of engaging talks and interesting insights into the museum and cultural heritage field by a range of museum professionals. Take a look at some of the highlights from trip participants:

Hannah on a tractor in the interactive exhibit
at Markham Museum. Photo courtesy of
Kathleen Vahey.

"I felt seeing an art gallery and a revitalized historical pioneer museum in the same day was a great way to see different collections and exhibiting practices. The highlight was definitely the interactives for kids at the Markham Museum. I could have stayed and played for hours!" - Kristen McLaughlin

"Great to get the chance to talk to professionals about how they've been solving problems in their museums." - Sam Kilpatrick 

"I really liked all the interactives at the Markham Museum, especially the corn maze!" - Hannah Hadfield 

"So great meeting museum professionals and speaking candidly with them! It was such an awesome experience, especially at institutions you may not typically go to!"         - Nicole Kolkman 

"It was a very educative day. I especially liked visiting the vaults and storage areas of the museum and art gallery. It was great to learn and receive tips from various museum professionals."                 - Laetitia Dandavino-Tardif 

Viewing the art at the Varley Art Gallery.
Photo courtesy of Kathleen Vahey.

I would like to extend a sincere thank you to: Andrea Carpenter, Janet Reid, Mark Scheibmayr, and Tammy Law at Markham Museum; and Fraser Ching, Anik Glaude, and John Abrams at the Varley Art Gallery, for hosting MMSt and CRO students and for being so generous and eager to speak with us.

I would also like to thank Prof. Matt Brower for taking time out of his busy schedule to accompany us, as well as all the students who took a day out of their reading week. I hope you found the trip worthwhile.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who participated in the MMSt trips and who were excellent representatives of the Faculty of Information. It’s not an easy task to plan three separate day trips to multiple institutions throughout the year while also juggling planning other MUSSA social events, a full course load, and volunteering. While it is a bit hectic, it’s all worth it when we get to visit those institutions and speak to different museum professionals to see what they are doing and how it relates to what we are learning.

Good luck next year!

HIGH FASHION HIJAB - AND MUSLIM WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE FASHION WORLD

SEW WHAT

BY: JESSICA SVENNINGSON

High fashion has increasingly been finding its way into cultural institutions – like the ROM’s new exhibition exploring Dior in the 20th century, MoMA’s current exhibition Items: Is Fashion Modern?, and a yet-to-be-announced exhibition at the Bata Shoe Museum showcasing a designer’s collection of footwear, set to open in 2018. The strong political voice museums hold has great power to legitimize art and cultural activities, and their corresponding objects. This voice has recently spoken up in the fashion and political debates surrounding Muslim women’s fashion, more specifically hijabs.

High Fashion Hijab Queen. Source

Hijabs have been thrown under both critical and supportive media spotlights in the context of recent political turmoil in North America and abroad. Ibtihaj Muhammad competed in the 2016 summer Olympics in her hijab, Dolce and Gabbana and launched high fashion hijabs, and Halima Aden, a Somali-American, competed in Miss Minnesota USA wearing a hijab and burkini. Considering the recent backlash from American museums in the face of an Islamophobic Twitter-troll, the time is ripe to host exhibitions exploring Islamic fashion and the politics contained within it. San Francisco's de Young Museum will be hosting The Fashion of Islam, opening fall 2018, to demonstrate the complexity and variety of Islamic fashions from around the world. To quote the director, Max Hollein, 

Dolce & Gabanna, 2016. Source

"There are probably people who don't even think there is fashion in Islam. But if you look at Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Beirut, the fashion is really vibrant, and it can speak to larger political and social developments, cultural understanding, and misunderstandings."

Hollein is hot on the heels of Australia’s Museum of Applied Arts & Science’s exhibition Faith, Fashion, Fusion: Muslim Women’s Style in Australia, currently on display at the Islamic Art Museum of Malaysia, showing the diversity in Australian Islamic fashion through photographs, garments, and interviews.

Uniqlo + Hana Tajima, 2017. Source

The presentation of these exhibitions is in direct opposition to arguments made by French women's rights and families minister Laurence Rossignol, and Yves Saint Laurent's co-founder Pierre Bergé, who both view the hijab as a form of "slavery". Berge's attitude is in reflection of a new trend in fashion for 'modest wear', clothing lines designed for Islamic women who wish to dress conservatively, and fashionably. This attitude for exclusion from an international fashion company seems short-sighted considered the massive buying power the Islamic world holds, with spending projections for the fashion industry in the Arab world expecting to reach $484 billion by 2019. Ignoring that kind of potential for growth sends a strong message of how unimportant Euro-American fashion industries view the Islamic world as a viable market.

The fashion-political opinions against Western fashion industries catering to the social needs of Muslim women is grounded in a “colonial feminist” attitude that we need to teach others how to live. This attitude, “reduce[‘s] the diverse situations and attitudes of millions of Muslim women to a single item of clothing,” without considering the opportunity for self-expression possible within the hijab itself. To no surprise, the debate over the hijab is really another debate over women’s bodies, and their agency over it. Using fashion as a tool to exercise that control, Dolce and Gabanna, Uniqlo, and Nike have launched products and clothing lines that not only give Muslim women the ability to exercise that agency over their own body, but to engage in all activities as other women do.

However, this shift in the western fashion markets catering to fashion desires of Muslim women fans the flames of a fundamental paradigm struggle currently happening in the Muslim countries all around the world. Shelina Janmohamed, author of Love In A Headscarf, describes this tension:

“Today's fashion industry is about consumerism and objectification - buy, buy, buy and be judged by what you wear. Muslim fashion is teetering between asserting a Muslim woman's right to be beautiful and well-turned out, and buying more stuff than you need, and being judged by your clothes - both of which are the opposite of Islamic values. Modesty isn't just how you look, it's what you purchase and what you waste....it might be liberating for the Muslim women purchasing these fashions on the high street, but how liberating is it for the Muslim women who made them in the sweatshops in Bangladesh and elsewhere?"

Nike Muslim women's sportswear, 2018. Source

Turning to third-year Social Anthropology student at SOAS (the School of Oriental and African Studies in London) Sabah Haneen Choudhry, she asks,

“Why is the hijab ‘acceptable’ only when it's appropriated and managed by major [Western] corporations? ... Why can't Muslim women decide the parameters of their Islamic identity and sexual morality, without facing harsh scrutiny from within and outside the 'imagined' Muslim community?"

"Legitimizing" hijabs in the Western world by western high fashion companies not only looks badly on the companies who expand their markets with the intention of monetary gain, but it also reflects badly on western museums who only now are exploring Muslim fashion. It should not have taken a high fashion Italian clothing designer and several other internationally known clothing companies to motivate western museums into exploring fashion from the Islamic world. It begs the question: what other contemporary cultures are being under-represented in museums globally, and what can be done to present these cultures without exorcising them? As gatekeepers, caregivers, and presenters of arts and culture, museums have a responsibility to provide equal opportunity to represent all angles of cultural identity. 

Mariah Idrissi talks about the changing face of Muslim women at TedX, 2016. Source.

Further Reading:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/is-fashion-modern-moma-exhibition-little-black-dress-lbd-hijab-jeans-leather-new-york-curator-name-a7972371.html#gallery

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathonkeats/2017/10/03/moma-fashion-items/#780917c64e36