PARTYING WITH DIONYSUS: CELEBRATION, FEMININITY, TEXTILES

Object of the Week | Caitlin McCurdy

---

Earlier this year, the Textile Museum of Canada was gearing up for a new exhibition of fibre artist Anna Torma’s works, titled Permanent Dangers. Torma uses techniques like embroidery, felting, photo transfer, collage, and quilting to weave narratives of popular culture, mythology, traditional Hungarian textiles, and her own personal stories of family, immigration, and joy. In an effort to highlight some objects made in this century, I’d like to discuss one of Anna Torma’s incredible pieces, inspired by the Greek god Dionysus, aptly titled Dionysia. This artwork brings together elements of mythology, traditionally “feminine” crafts, and nudity into a rich tapestry of life and celebration. I’m intrigued by this use of ancient myth in contemporary art, and it serves as my entry point into engaging with her work.

Dionysia, Anna Torma (2020) | Source

Textile art has always walked a line between craft and the artworld. The common understanding of why this is the case is that sewing, embroidery, and the like were considered “women’s work,” kept in the realm of the home and recreation, not for the sophisticated art connoisseur. Torma herself was introduced to embroidery and sewing by her mother and grandmother who taught her while she was growing up in Hungary. Her work often explores these ideas of fixed femininity and feminine decorum in order to destabilize them, which in turn elevates her “craft-based creative practices” in the eyes of some art critics.

In Dionysia, Torma draws inspiration from elements of Greek mythology. Dionysus served a number of purposes within the Greek pantheon. He was the masked god, the effeminate god, the “great liberator through wine," and later the patron of the arts. A festival held in his name, Great Dionysia, was a weeks long festival of renewal involving wine, the performance of plays, and “overall lechery.” The air of festivity and celebration is reflective in the brightness and action within Dionysia, in which nudity is just a piece of the celebration.

Detail of Dionysia | Source

Femininity, female sensuality, and nudity often play a role in Torma’s works. In Dionysia, they work as a part of celebration of life as inspired by the myth of Dionysus, particularly its more lecherous elements. Nudity is only one of several elements that can bring you in to follow the rich narrative taking place within Torma’s embroidered storytelling. In an article for White Hot Magazine, James D. Campbell discusses the multiple entry points Torma’s works provides. He describes engaging with her work as “non-hierarchical entry and exit points in an acentered and labyrinthine diaspora,” using the specific term Rhizomatic Wanderlust. This description resonated with me, as you can choose any corner of the tapestry to engage with and be brought into a narrative of femininity, domesticity, or sensuality and move through the piece in any direction you choose. Then choose a new spot and begin the whole process again.

Entry Points into Torma's work | Source

In this particular corner of Torma’s piece, nudity is interspersed with elements invoking the changing of seasons. Great Dionysia was held in March, a festival of renewal at the onset of a new spring. As a god also associated with rebirth, the influence of Dionysus is also implicit in the scenes of greenery and flowers surrounding a snowman. This whimsical play of seasons, and the humour with which the nudity is presented influences the overall air of celebration that permeates the piece and allows viewers to string together a narrative as they engage with its specific elements.

Now, my specialty is not contemporary art nor art theory and my reading of this piece is based solely on my own feelings and interpretation based on initial engagement with the piece. But I think that is something that Torma’s work welcomes as each piece is so visually busy it has something for everyone to connect to initially. The use of techniques traditionally not associated with the fine arts world also alludes to this accessibility.

In researching this article, I also learned more about the Textile Museum and its dedication to exploring the world through textile arts. Although the museum is closed right now due to COVID-19 lockdowns, I look forward to a time when I can visit and see how my impression of Dionysia changes. I long to engage with Dionysia in person and see how this process differs from simply zooming in and out of the pictures available on the Textile Museum’s website. I’d love to engage with the tactile elements of the piece, how the stitching changes the narrative, or the fabric emphasizes certain portions of the story it is telling.

Source

REBELLIOUS NATURE: WILD AT THE TEXTILE MUSEUM

Exhibition Reviews | Mary Wallace

---

For this month’s exhibition review, which I now realize is quickly becoming a contemporary art column, I visited the Textile Museum of Canada to see Wild, an exhibition featuring five emerging artists whose work explore nature, otherness and all things “defiantly aberrant, untamed, and uncultivated”. The concept of the show seems absolutely made for museum studies students, the first line of the intro panel describes this textile based art as making “mischief of neat and tidy systems of classification”. Material culture and systems of classification? This description sounds like it’s straight out of a collections management class.

Detail of mappaemundi: one month in Newfoundland (2019) by Emily Jan (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace) 

Emily Jan’s work in particular, uses a lot of the visual language usually employed by natural history museums but contorts this language in ways that make her work feel familiar yet completely alien. Jan’s Apologues installation for instance, features taxidermied animals artfully combined with plants, these hybrid bouquets rest atop ornate pieces of furniture. The doily laden desks and end tables suggest the controlled and artificial, reminiscent of the antique cabinet of curiosities while the animals and flowers overtaking them indicate nature’s refusal to be catalogued so easily.

Emily Jan's Apologues installation (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace)

Detail of Apologues (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace) 

Much of the art featured in Wild is unashamedly weird, but the works remain grounded by the intense topics they cover and the artists’ strong personal connections to their materials. For instance, Omar Badrin’s series or crocheted masks and bodysuits, accompanied by rapidly flashing animations of his designs may initially read as bizarre, a bit creepy, and maybe a little funny but they are more than just spectacle. These pieces are meant to act as a visual representation of Badrin’s feelings growing up as a visible minority in Newfoundland by taking visibility to the extreme, playing with the duality of masks ability to both obscure and draw attention to the wearer. Masks appear again in Humboldt Magnussen series of “helmets”. These intricately decorated, mix media pieces appear both in person and in photographs of of the artist wearing them. Magnussen uses the helmets to explore notions of masculinity, queer identity and a desire for protection. Much like Badrin’s work, the masks provide the opportunity for self expression while at the the same time obscuring the wearer’s identity.

Installation view of Omar Badrin's work featuring the animation loop Headache (2019) and the bodysuit Lacuna (2019) (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace)  

Humboldt Magnussen, Flamer (Fire) (2018) (photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace) 

Catherine Blackburn explores individual identity as tied to nature in her installation Trapline. Blackburn draws on memories of her late grandparents, specifically, her grandfather’s work as a trapper and her grandmother’s beading. These two roles are combined in this installation, in which rabbit skins hang from pale pink traps dipping with strings of red beads. This piece is striking in a different way than Badrin and Magnussen's masks, the pastel colour pallet makes the deep red of the beading stand out in a way that is both visceral and beautiful.

Detail of Trapline (2019) by Catherine Blackburn (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace)  

The standout piece of the Wild for me was actually one of the most visually subdued pieces on display. Carrie Allison’s Beaded Botanicals are a series of delicate beaded representations of  endangered plants indigenous to Mi'kma'ki territory (Nova Scotia), these representations are accompanied by preserved examples of those plants from the Nova Scotia Museum’s herbarium. The series acts as a commentary on human relationships with nature and the contrast between the categorical system of western science and the symbolic and ceremonial relationship emphasized by Indigenous ways of knowing. Each beaded specimen is fragmented, imperfect, as though disintegrating. In several of the other artworks in this exhibition, the natural world over takes the human one, but in this piece the natural world is presented as delicate, fragile and at risk of slipping away from us completely.

Carrie Allison, Beaded Botanical 7 (Adiantum pedatum L.) (2019) and Adiantum pedatum L. (1989) from the Collection of the Herbarium of the Nova Scotia Museum (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace)    

Wild is on at the Textile Museum of Canada until March 15, 2020.

PASSION, MEET PROFIT

(Fun)draising | Samantha Summers

---

The Textile Museum of Canada is having an exciting year. With two new endowment funds being established, a thriving volunteer community, and exhibit after exhibit earning rave reviews, Executive Director Emma Quin sees no sign of the museum slowing down. We sat down during the Textile Museum’s Beads, they’re sewn so tight exhibit to talk about fundraising and the importance of having a close-knit community.

A quote adorns the wall of the Textile Museum's collection space. "Who is worthy of memory?" -Desmond Miller.
Photo courtesy of Samantha Summers.

Would you mind giving me a brief overview of what the Textile Museum’s mission is?

Ultimately we’re here to create an understanding of the human experience through textiles. We’re looking to ignite creativity and to spark wonder, conversation, and learning through textiles.

How does fundraising fit into this picture?

It’s significant, as it would be with any cultural institution or museum. We have a development department, and fundraising is one of the key places that we generate revenue to support the programming that we do. We’re looking to bring in revenue through membership, donations, patron relations, individual giving, and corporate and foundation sponsorships. It’s quite a wide spectrum, and it’s about one third of our budget that we’re bringing in through fundraising. So I’d say it’s pretty important.

Jean Marshall, Ring of Fire (2015), 2015. Photo courtesy of Samantha Summers.

Could you give me a rough breakdown of where your finances are coming from?
Sure. An ideal model is to have one third - one third - one third; one third through earned revenues, one third through the private sector, and one third through the public sector. We’re close to that. Membership, admissions, our retail store, and ticketed events are on the earned revenue side. Publicly we are funded by three levels of government - municipal, provincial and federal. On the private side, in addition to the way we fundraise that I mentioned before, we also have a volunteer committee and the volunteers actively fundraise for us. They do a textile bazaar and a number of sales through the year, and we’re really fortunate that they drive a lot of activity and funding to us. They bring $40-$45 000 a year into the operations of the museum.

That’s impressive.

It’s very impressive. We run an annual campaign from the fall to the winter, an appeal to support the mandate and the mission of the museum. When we’re doing something like that we try to make it as personal as possible; we want the ask to come from somebody who has passion for the institution. Our membership is generous, people donate on top of their annual membership on an ongoing basis, so there’s a consistent stream of ongoing donations.

Katie Longboat, Kokum's Flowers, 2018. Photo courtesy of Samantha Summers.

Once someone is a member or has donated, how do you keep them involved in the museum?

I think engagement is really critical. For membership we’re sitting in the realm of 800 members. There are different levels of membership, so there are slightly different levels of engagement across all those areas. They’re supposed to be well-connected to us and therefore we want to keep them apprised with what’s going on. We open approximately five exhibitions per year and each are layered with public programs. Independent of those exhibitions, our education department programs numerous activities monthly. Making sure the membership is invited to all of those [is important]. We are actually actively working to improve how we communicate and connect with our membership. We’re thinking quite deeply on how we can make our connection much more meaningful. I think that’s an ongoing commitment, because how people want to engage changes and evolves, and we have to change with it.

What do you look for in a corporate partnership?

Our largest corporate sponsor is BMO Financial Group. I think we align to their philanthropic goals and what they’re looking to support. They’re advocates of our programs, and they’re advocates of the mandate and mission of the organization. In this past fiscal year they have been our [primary] exhibition sponsor. I think the most important thing is aligning with their philanthropic goal and their organizational beliefs. The primary piece that we’re looking for is how do we tell a story about what it is that we’re doing that really aligns with the mandate of that corporate institution.

Bev Koski, (from left to right), Toronto #1 (2013), Banff #4 (2012), Toronto #2 (2015). Photo courtesy of Samantha Summers.

What is the most exciting thing that has been achieved through fundraising since you joined the Textile Museum?

Can I say two things?

Absolutely.

One that’s just quite recent is we’ve established the curatorial endowment fund. One of our senior curators retired, and to celebrate her accomplishments along with our long standing commitment to curatorial excellence we launched this new fund. The fund will inspire ongoing and future curatorial excellence at the museum, providing our curators with dedicated resources to realize their curatorial visions, support their research on our collections, and provide essential funding for the development of special exhibitions that further advance the museum’s curatorial reputation.

We were delighted that one of our long-standing supporters, Shirley Beatty, decided to make a leading gift that started the fund off with a $50,000 donation, and we look forward to continuing to grow it. We also established a Future Fund for the museum, recognizing that we have to think about innovative ways to move the museum forward and require access to a pocket of money to do that as those decisions come about. We were able to establish that Future Fund with another leading donation that we received from Kathy Paterson, one of our volunteers, for $100 000. I think with having those two pieces it just helps us think strategically toward the future and what we can do.

It must be so exciting to play such a big role in this institution that so many people care about.

There is a deep passion for this institution. The museum gets called a “hidden” gem, and it is a gem, it’s really beautiful. The people that walk through our doors leave with a deep emotional connection to it. We see that over and over and over again.

Olivia Whetung, #35, 2015. Photo courtesy of Samantha Summers.

Visit the Textile Museum website for visiting information, and check out these upcoming events: Textile Teach-In: Spinning Workshop, Art Chat: Cape Dorset Printed Textiles, Textile Teach-In: Rug Hooking.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

10 THINGS TO DO IN OCTOBER

What's Happening Wednesdays |  Laetitia Dandavino-Tardif

---

1. World Press Photo 2018 Exhibition

Date: October 2 to 23, 2018
Location: Brookfield Place, Allen Lambert Galleria

Every year, the World Press Photo showcases the best visual journalism of the past year through an international exhibition, travelling to more than 100 cities and 45 countries. The contest celebrates the most striking, shocking and touching photographs showcasing compelling stories and insight into our world, while supporting the career of professional photojournalists.

Bev Koski's Ottawa #1 and Bearlin #1 (2014). Source.

2. Beads, they're sewn so tight

Date: October 10, 2018 to May 26, 2019
Location: Textile Museum of Canada

Curated by Lisa Myers, Beads, they're sewn so tight presents beaded works by contemporary artists Bev Koski, Katie Longboat, Jean Marshall and Olivia Whetung. Through innovative beading and threading techniques, these artists create new visual languages of pattern and surface design, while drawing attention to social and political issues.

Waterlitch (Official Video) by Daan Roosegaarde. Source.

3. Waterlicht

Date: October 12, 13 and 14, 2018, from 7-11PM
Location: The Bentway

After London, New York, Paris and Amsterdam, experience Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde's monumental public art installation Waterlich, for its Canadian premiere in Toronto. Through the use of LEDs, special software and lenses, Roosegaarde creates an imaginary landscape illustrating the universal power, poetry, and danger of water. The travelling exhibition is site-responsive. It will be located at The Bentway, underneath the Gardiner Expressway highlighting the Lake Ontario shoreline.

4. The Power Plant's Fall 2018 Exhibition Season

Date: Friday, October 19, 2018, starting at 8:00 PM
Location: The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery

The Power Plant is hosting a free party for the launch of its Fall 2018 exhibition season, which includes the first solo exhibition of sculptor Karla Black, the first Canadian solo exhibition of Argentinian artist Vivian Suter and the ongoing exhibition of Abbas Akhavan's variation on a landscape. Be part of this seasonal opening party attracting large crowds from artists to museum professionals and art lovers!

 A tea bowl from Sir William Van Hornes's collection. Source.

5. Obsession: Sir William Van Horne’s Japanese Ceramics

Date: October 20, 2018 to January 22, 2019

Location: Gardiner Museum

Organized in partnership with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Obsession brings together over 350 objects from Sir William Van Horne's exceptional Japanese pottery collection. The exhibition presents not only the fascination of one of the greatest Canadian collectors for Japanese objets d'art but also dives into the history of collecting in Canada at the end of the 19th century. 

6. Art Toronto

Date: October 26 to 29, 2018

Location: Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Art Toronto is an annual international contemporary and modern art fair showcasing leading Canadian and international galleries, such as from the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Israel and Belgium. The programming of the fair also includes PLATFORM, Art Toronto’s original speaker series with prominent art world professionals.

A room from the Museum of Illusions. Source.

7. Opening of the Toronto Museum of Illusions

Date: Opens October 15, 2018
Location: 132 Front Street East, Toronto

First opened in Zagreb, Croatia in 2015, the Museum of Illusions is soon to open in Toronto joining other cities around the world, such as Vienna, Belgrade, New York, Dubai, Berlin, and Kuala Lumpur. The interactive rooms in this “museum” showcase various optical illusions, which are definitively Instagram-worthy.

---

And see it before it ends...

Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion at the  Royal Ontario Museum. Source.

8. Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion

Date: Ends October 8, 2018
Location: Royal Ontario Museum

Discover the extraordinary world of Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen at the ROM, as she pushes the boundaries of fashion and design through her use of new technologies such as 3D printing. The exhibition is presented alongside Canadian architect Philip Beesley’s interactive installations.

Rebecca Belmore's sister (2010). Source.

9. Rebecca Belmore: Facing the Monumental

Date: Ends October 21, 2018
Location: Art Gallery of Ontario

Curated by Wanda Nanibush, this exhibition explores contemporary Anishinaabe artist Rebecca Belmore's career. Belmore uses interdisciplinary artworks to respond to political issues such as Indigenous rights, land rights, violence towards Indigenous women, and the role of the artist in our contemporary society. 

10. Modernism on the Ganges: Raghubir Singh Photographs 

Date: Ends October 21, 2018
Location: Royal Ontario Museum

This exhibition showcases the life, culture and people of India, from 1960s to 1990s, through Raghubir Singh's vivid color photographs. Don't forget to also visit #MeToo & the Arts, in the lobby of the ROM, which was created in response to the sexual harassment allegations against Singh and exposes the ongoing gender inequity within the art world. 

---

TORONTO MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES YOU MAY NOT HAVE VISITED YET

THE GRAD SCHOOL GUIDE

BY: LAETITIA DANDAVINO-TARDIF

When we think of museums around Toronto, the first ones that come to mind are the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) or the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Yet, there are so many more. Here are just a few of my favorite cultural museums or art galleries in Toronto I bet you haven’t checked out yet. These institutions are all located in Toronto core and easily accessible by public transportation, so there is no reason for not visiting them in the upcoming months.

1. Gardiner Museum

111 Queen's Park, Toronto, ON M5S 2C7

The Gardiner Museum, the leading Canadian ceramics museum, is known worldwide as a great specialty museum. Although small looking compared to its neighbor, the ROM, the Gardiner holds a permanent collection of almost 3000 pieces. This collection includes ceramic and porcelain treasures from all around the world, and from Ancient to contemporary objects. Every year, the museum mounts three temporary exhibitions. Clay workshops are available, if you have a creative mindset or want to learn techniques. This past winter, it had a nationally acclaimed exhibition Yoko Ono: The Riverbed and, in 2019, it will hold the highly anticipated Ai Weiwei: Unbroken exhibition. Finally, the Gardiner Museum is at a 10-minute walking distance from campus. Admission is free using your OMA membership card.

A post shared by Gardiner Museum (@gardinermuseum) on Jul 12, 2018 at 7:17am PDT

2. Textile Museum of Canada

55 Centre Avenue, Toronto, ON M5G 2H5

In the heart of downtown Toronto, the Textile Museum is the only museum in Canada that dedicates its collection, research and exhibitions to the media of textiles. The TMC’s 13000 artifacts from around the world cover nearly two millennia. It is a fascinating way to explore, discover and understand various cultures. A past exhibition I personally enjoyed was Artistry in Silk: The Kimono of Itchiku Kubota, which made one discover Japanese culture and landscapes through Kubuta’s Kimono designs. Finally, entrance is also free with your OMA card.

A post shared by Textile Museum of Canada (@textilemuseumofcanada) on May 10, 2018 at 8:41am PDT

3. Ryerson Image Centre

33 Gould Street, Toronto ON M5B 1W1

The Ryerson Image Centre is in Ryerson University’s School of Image Art’s building. It focuses its collection, exhibitions and research on photography and related media. I recommend going to see the Scotiabank Photography Award: Shelley Niro, 2017 winner, before it closes on August 5, 2018. In addition to the main galleries, the RIC has a Student Gallery that showcases the artworks and curatorial practices of Ryerson University’s students or recent alumni. The RIC is walking distance from the Eaton Centre and its admission is free to all.

A post shared by Ryerson Image Centre (@ricgallery) on Jun 11, 2018 at 2:58pm PDT

4. The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery

231 Queens Quay West, Toronto, ON M5J 2G8

The Power Plant is Canada’s leading non-collecting public gallery dedicated to contemporary visual art. It is located at the Harbourfront Centre in a mid-1920s powerhouse. The Power Plant is pro-active in showcasing diverse living artists and engaging with a variety of audiences, thus fostering a local-global dialogue related to contemporary art practice. The gallery holds three shows per year (fall, winter and summer). Many MMSt students attended its Summer Opening Party, last month, to see the exhibitions of Ellen Gallagher, Abbas Akhavan and Grada Kilomba. The Power Plant also offers a large programming of lectures, film screenings, and holds a Sunday Scene speaker series. This art gallery is free to all.

A post shared by The Power Plant (@thepowerplantto) on Jun 26, 2018 at 1:22pm PDT

5. 401 Richmond

401 Richmond Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8

If you are in a different mindset, take time to discover an arts-and-culture hub: 401 Richmond Street West. Located in the heart of the Fashion District, this restored heritage industrial building is home to a mix of over 140 creative minds. It has twelve art galleries and thirty artists' studios, which hold many events throughout the year such as performances and exhibitions. Galleries I recommend checking out include Abbozzo Gallery, Open Studio and Gallery 44. As one can see, visiting 401 Richmond is a full day of great and diverse discoveries, and is free!

A post shared by 401 Richmond (@401richmond) on May 26, 2018 at 8:23am PDT

BONUS: Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto

158 Sterling Rd, Toronto, ON M6R 2B2

You have probably not visited the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) recently as it has moved to a new location in the Junction in the landmark heritage Tower Automotive Building. Save the date: opening day is September 22nd, 2018. The MOCA builds upon the experience of the former Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA) having held 200+ exhibitions with works of over 1,100 Canadian and international artists. The moving from its previous location on Queen West to a larger space accommodates the museum’s ever-growing aspirations and significance. In its new 55,000 square foot home, the MOCA integrates artist residency studios and workshop space for educational programs. I had the chance to visit the new building, under construction, during the Doors Open Toronto and I am looking forward to its opening. Admission will be free to the permanent collection and student memberships are $20.

A post shared by MOCA Toronto (@mocatoronto) on Jun 23, 2018 at 10:20am PDT

I hope you will take time to visit these museums and art galleries and make the most out of their great events and programming! As MMSt students, it is important to visit a variety of cultural institutions to broaden your knowledge of museum practices, as well as complement with and make the most of your graduate experience. Follow up on events organized by MUSSA to learn about other opportunities to visit these museums and more!

THE BEST WAY TO TOUR A MUSEUM?

BEYOND TRADITION

BY: EMILY WELSH

We all have our own strategies and preferences for touring museums, but if someone came up to you and said they had the "BEST" way to tour a museum, would you take them seriously? Would you be willing to step out of your comfortable traditions to try something different?

When the statement comes from CEO of Museum Hack, Nick Gray, I personally am willing to give it a try and see what we may learn for museum practice.

The Strategy: 

Gray outlines his strategy in the following video:

The four steps:

1. Get a map
2. Walk the entire museum floor plan and do not stop! Notice things that interest you but don't read the text. Gray warns you are going to feel like you are missing things, but not to worry! You will come back. 
3. Take a break. Decompress and build a plan of areas you want to visit when you re-enter. 
4.  Go back and explore the museum. Spend some time with your favourite objects and look closely. 

But don't simply take it from me! Watch the video for Gray's comical delivery and best explanation.

The Night Before:

I've chosen a museum I have never visited before, the Textile Museum of Canada (TMC). I just watched Gray's video and I am mentally preparing myself. Honestly, I have never been more anxious about a trip to a museum.

Well said, Luke. #badfeelingaboutthis Source.

I am, as I expect many museum-goers are, very set in my own ways. Depending on the visit, I typically wish to see the entire museum start to finish, reading as much text as I can. Unless it's a large museum, I usually don't pick out beforehand the galleries that I wish to see or ignore. I expect walking the entire floor plan will make me worried about the time I am losing.

Upon re-entry, Gray says to explore the museum at your own pace and spend time closely with the objects you like. Will I feel stressed if I can't see it all, working the museum in this fashion? Or will the touted benefits of less fatigue, better retention, and memorable experiences make this an enjoyable strategy?

The Visit:

At the front desk I was unable to receive a map of the space, but I was given two rack cards, one for each exhibition currently on display. I started on the third floor and made my way through the exhibition galleries without stopping, noting objects and areas I found intriguing. After my quick walk-around I found a chair to sit on and decompress, as the TMC does not have a cafe. I wrote on the back of my cards the areas I wanted to visit or avoid upon re-entry. 

My tiny scribbles on the back of the TMC exhibition materials noting my plans for re-entry. Photo courtesy of Emily Welsh.

 

I made my way back to the third floor and started with the exhibition Diligence and Elegance: The Nature of Japanese Textiles. On my initial walk through I was enthralled by the designs of the kimonos and the variations in design. I also caught glimpse of the word 'indigo' in regards to colour dyeing and I knew I had to come back to learn more about the technique. Making my way through the space I tried to spend time closely looking at the objects I found most intriguing, reading text only when I had a questions I wanted to answer, when I wanted to learn more, or when a title caught my interest. 

Spending more time with objects than I normally would, I found the experience had quite the effect on me. Whether it was the nature of the material culture or the attention I was giving to the objects I will never know, but I felt a strong urge to touch the objects. I wanted to lift the edges of the jacket and see the pieces of the scene hiding beneath. I wanted to feel the threads of the kimono to understand how the weaving created the intricate black and white floral design. I wanted to hold the cloth made from paper to better understand how it might feel.

My favourite formal kimono on display in Diligence and Elegance: The Nature of Japanese Textiles. I spent a long period of time examining the feathers of the birds and how they wrapped around the piece. Photo courtesy of Emily Welsh.

Down on the second floor, the objects in the exhibition Tied, Dyed and Woven: Ikat Textiles from Latin American didn't appeal to me on my initial walk through, save for one object which reminded me of a blanket we have at home. Thus I decided to limit my time in this space.

Instead I planned to focus on the education gallery, FibreSpace, located on this floor. Here I was able to learn about weaving through the interpretive panels and usable objects provided for visitors. I weaved with the TMC's floor loom, learned about the terminology and technique, and strengthened my understanding of dyeing on display in the text and objects of the current exhibitions. 

I might have become obsessed with weaving after using the TMC's floor loom in FibreSpace. Photo courtesy of Emily Welsh.

Leaving the museum, I felt more refreshed and satisfied with my visit than I have had in a while. I didn't feel upset that I hadn't seen and done it all because I had made cognizant decisions about what interested me and what did not. I wasn't exhausted because I limited the amount of text I read and the objects I looked at. I remembered more concepts and had more fun after using this touring strategy. During my visit,  I felt comfortable in the space because I had taken some time to familiarize myself before diving into the content. Although this test felt successful, the TMC is quite small and the initial walk through took less than five minutes. I'm not sure how the strategy would scale to larger, busier museums but I would be interested in finding out.

Applications for Museum Practice:

1. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable -  we tend to get set in our ways because we know how they work and what the end product will be. Doing something new in our museum programs and exhibitions is going to cause anxiety and stress but we will never know if something will be better if we stick with what is safe. 
2. Help your visitors fight fatigue and have fun - find ways to encourage visitors to focus on what is interesting to them instead of what they think the museum wants them to learn. Provide opportunities for visitors to spend time and have fun with objects. As Gray mentions in a past Tedx Talk, you need to entertain visitors before you can educate them.
3. Structure text to support visitors, not to overwhelm them - try to anticipate your visitors' questions. Our interpretive plans insist we have our own educational agendas but visitors are their own agents with their own thoughts and perspectives. What information do you think they will be interested in? Has a museum label ever had subheadings to allow visitors to target their reading to what really matters?

This is my final post for Beyond Tradition. It has been an honour and pleasure to support the creation of a new column and contribute to its inaugural posts. I hope this column will remain an area for authors and readers to push the boundaries of museum practice and find the next great thing for museums of all kinds.

HOME ECONOMICS: 150 YEARS OF CANADIAN HOOKED RUGS

EXHIBITION REVIEWS

BY: STEPHANIE READ

Welcome to another scintillating installment of Exhibition Reviews! As the leaves fall and the chill of winter approaches, I have decided to review a lovely exhibit currently on show at the Textile Museum of Canada, “Home Economics: 150 Years of Canadian Hooked Rugs”. What better encapsulates the fall-time than a good old fashioned rug-hook in front of the warm glow of Netflix with a cup of pumpkin chai tea at your elbow? Nothing, that is what.

If rug hooking isn’t really your thing, these following tidbits should be enough to sway you on the subject:

-Your grandmother most likely hooked rugs. You don’t want to disappoint Grandma, do you?

-People who hook rugs refer to themselves as ‘hookers’. ‘Nough said.

-Oh, and this:

Nancy Edell, Peter and Nancy as the two-headed Dog (1993), 66 x 93 cm, Various yarns and burlap, Dalhousie Art Gallery permanent collection, gift of the artist, 1999. Photo: Steve Farmer. Textile Museum of Canada, 2015.

Journey into the wild, wacky and creative world of the Canadian hooked rug tradition. Learn about the “Gagetown hookers”, a prolific rug-hooking power-couple who crafted as a form of therapy after the loss of their farm in the mid-20th century. Take an up-close look at the exquisite colours, design and craftsmanship of early 20th century hookers in Quebec and the polished technique of the Grenfell Mission artists in Newfoundland and Labrador. The fabric puffs are a textile equivalent of the Colville-ian pointillism so close to Canadians’ hearts.

Be transported by iconic Canadian landscapes through the eyes of everyday people across seasons and time…

hooked rug, Canada, c1926 (T03.14.1), Textile Museum of Canada, 2015

 …and take a break from the rat-race to enjoy a floor-to-ceiling salon-style collection of playful, quirky and deeply personal rugs depicting a range of subjects from pets, lobsters, a demonic pygmy goat and a very, very startled horse.

You will leave the exhibition with a new-found sense of awe and respect for this craft, especially if you try a hand at ‘hooking’ yourself at the demo table in the Fibrespace activity area! If you are a crafter or rug- hooker, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the history of the craft in Canada and to see some inspiring artwork!

The perfect rug for your... bathroom. (Joanna Close, The Kitchen (2014), Hand-dyed wool rag and burlap, 78 x 78 cm, Collection of the artist. Photo: Steve Farmer. Textile Museum of Canada, 2015)

"Home Economics" is on display until February 8, 2016. Be sure to check out my favourite piece, a lovely sheep with puffy wool! (St Lawrence Valley, Quebec, 1936-1940)

Do you have any personal memories of crafters, artisans or rug 'hookers'? Let me know in the comments below!