THE POTENTIAL OF ORAL STORYTELLING IN MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS

Heritage Moments | Jingshu Helen Yao

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Artifacts, specimens, and models might first come to mind when people think of museums. Though museums today incorporate a variety of media into their exhibitions, the traditional items in visual exhibitions still remain at the forefront of people’s minds. Changes tend to occur gradually, but oral storytelling has shown its potential to become an alternative method to showcase history and culture.

In the Fall of 2019, the Future of Museum Storytelling Conference was held in New York. Professionals put their focus on how storytelling could benefit from the digital age, and how they could facilitate a museum environment rich in both oral and visual materials. In recent years, oral storytelling methods were employed to deliver complex topics such as immigration, decolonization, and LGBTQ stories. The strategy gave the marginalized communities full representation of themselves, which achieved better results while approaching these hard topics.

Metis Prisoners in 1885 (source)

Many indigenous communities around the world have strong oral traditions, which made oral storytelling a natural element of recording their history. Oral storytelling is now widely used to present indigenous culture in museums. The Gabriel Dumont Institute Of Native Studies And Applied Research presented audiences and researchers with an online archive of Metis oral history. The collection includes transcription and audio stories, interviews with storytellers, and additional resources for oral history research. The Virtual Museum of Canada, a digital platform created by Canada’s museums and heritage organizations, uses its space for virtual storytelling and illustrations.

Virtual Museum of Canada Logo (source)

These archives and digital exhibitions have become extremely useful during special times like quarantine. While most resources are limited to in-person use, oral storytelling maintains the same value remotely. In addition to its close connection to indigenous culture, oral storytelling has also been used in other topics that largely involved personal experience. The Toronto Ward Museum’s program Block by Block focuses on the storytelling of immigration. The initiative intends to use storytelling as a method to create a more inclusive city. 

Canadian Museum for Human Rights (source)

Bidzinski and her colleagues at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights introduced their methods for including personal perspectives in historical events. “Oral history offers something other sources lack — perspectives from often-marginalized groups and individuals, including many who have suffered human rights violations. Many of these stories have been excluded from the historical record.” Bidzinski et. al, explains this in greater depth in their paper “Building the Oral History Program at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights”. With more and more museums adopting oral storytelling as a part of their exhibitions, it will add depth to museums and culture education.

NOTHING FISHY TO SEE HERE: "FROM TIDES TO TINS" AT THE GULF OF GEORGIA CANNERY NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

Exhibition Reviews | Madison Carmichael

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Due to the global pandemic crisis, museums and galleries the world over were forced to close back in March, and months later, they remain closed. So, as you might imagine, Exhibition Reviews will look a little different this summer. Museums and galleries in recent months have moved quickly to redirect their visitors towards digital offerings, which presents us with the unique opportunity to explore such offerings and delve into the world of digital and online exhibitions. 

Given that I cannot physically go to a museum exhibition at present, I decided to cast a wide net (pun intended) and find something far from home and foreign to me; and so I landed upon “From Tides to Tins: Salmon Canning in BC,” an online exhibition about the history of Canada’s west coast salmon canning industry from 1870 to 2017. 

“From Tides to Tins” was produced in collaboration by the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, which is a historical site, and the Virtual Museum. The latter is currently run under the auspices of the Canadian Museum of History as a funding program to help institutions mount their own online exhibitions, which they then host on virtualmuseum.ca.

This page could function much like an introductory panel. It lays out what the exhibition will consist of. (Source)

Most exhibitions work very hard to immerse you. They employ evocative visuals, purposed lighting, and looping soundscapes. With an online exhibition, housed solely on personal technology and more critically within your home, it is very much up to you to create the atmosphere. Times being what they are, my current residence is filled with the myriad cacophony of my family and dog, to say nothing of the dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer running in the background, and so interruptions are a constant. As such, I headed over to YouTube to see what I could find in terms of soundscapes (here are a few). They tended toward the fantastical, but the sound of water, with seagulls echoing behind it, did the job well enough. 

“From Tides to Tins” consists of four overarching sections: Timeline, Working the Line, Map, and Game. The timeline takes you through more than a hundred years of the west coast fishing industry: from time immemorial to our very recent past, divided into distinct periodical segments. It is enormously comprehensive, covering early trade agreements between Indigenous people such as the Stó:lo and fur traders, mechanization, immigration, and the labour movement.

The timeline portion of the exhibition. Interestingly, you can either follow it temporally or by theme (i.e., global events, social change, environment) - a good use of its digital format. (Source)

In telling the history of this region and trade in this fashion, “From Tides to Tins” acknowledges, early and explicitly, the ethnic diversity of the labourers within the fishing industry, and it does not shy away from the racism inherent to policies of the time (i.e., the Head Tax) and how they influenced and were influenced by whichever industry required labourers at any given time. In doing so, the timeline endeavors to tell a more complete and comprehensive history of this region and those who laboured within it. This is also shown in the photos used to demonstrate the various steps of “Working the Line:” the various archival sources are representative of the Chinese, Japanese, Indigenous, and European men and women who worked either on fishing boats or in canneries all along the Canadian west coast. 

The timeline also notes the rise of over-fishing and accompanying regulations such as the Wilmot Commissions (1890 & 1892) and the Pacific Salmon Treaty (1930/37), which brings ecology into the conversation and invites the visitor to consider how this successful industry may have affected local salmon populations over time. 

From the portion of "Working the Line" entitled "Cleaning." The caption below the photo reads: "Indigenous women wash fish during canning preparation at a BC cannery. The photo is courtesy of the Delta Museum and Archives. (Source)

“Working the Line” and the “Map” portions of the exhibition paint a comprehensive picture of just how numerous and widespread canneries were along the western coast of British Columbia as well as what work within one would have entailed. The exhibition breaks this down into a fourteen-step process, from unloading fish from boats to packing and shipping. Each step details precisely how it would have been done and is accompanied by a short video from an industrial film depicting commercial salmon fishing and canning released in 1948. 

The “Map” is interactive. A sliding scale allows you to move temporally from 1870 to 2018, thereby watching canneries on the west coast diminish in number as time goes on. You are able to click on each one to get a little bit of detail about the cannery in question.

The map in question! Each red dot is a cannery, which you can click on to learn more about it. (Source)

As you might imagine, the fishing industry of the west coast is fairly far – both physically and figuratively – from my Ontarian suburbanite upbringing, so I found that I learned a lot. The great strength of it being an online exhibition was that I was able to experience local history without being local to it. While it may be felt at present that the in-person experience of museum-going cannot be replicated by the digital, the digital does allow you to go farther than you might be able to ordinarily. 

That being said, the reality of online exhibitions is that you’ll do a lot of reading. Which is not to say that that isn’t what you do in a live exhibition, but it’s usually accompanied the act of walking between panels, by immersive soundscapes, and by videos or hands-on activities. 

That brings me to the final part of this exhibition: “Build Your Own Cannery: A Game,” wherein you are put in charge of a new cannery and told to keep costs down and can as much salmon as humanly possible. 

You can choose your location along the B.C coast, your time period, and the name your cannery. I am now the proud proprietor of "Nothing Fishy Here" Cannery. (Source)

This is what I get for listening to my employees and keeping their hours low when they were upset. (Source)

Thanks, Mr. Anderson.

Check out “From Tides to Tins” here!

"GET TO WHERE YOU'RE GOING IN A HURRY" SLEEPING CAR PORTERS & NEW DIRECTIONS FOR BLACK HISTORY IN CANADA

Since a great deal of our cohort will soon migrate to our respective internships or employment, or journey far away from the iSchool for some well-deserved rest, travel has been on my mind. Perhaps it’s the recent fervour surrounding the VIA Rail Canada150 Youth Pass, perhaps it's the feeling of chugging into the final station as we close the term, but nevertheless my brain has been fixated on travel by rail in particular. 

Source

 Like much of the African Canadian experience, the history of travel and migration is transnational, deeply nuanced, and is only recently being shared in the public forum. Stories of the underground railroad often overshadow the African-Canadian experience with travel, and so for my last African-Canadian post I want to spotlight the sleeping car porters. 

In the 1870s, the Pullman Palace Car Company introduced a new luxury line of rail cars. Train passengers were treated to the finest amenities, including access to round-the-clock service in the form of a Sleeping Car Porter.  Chosen for their servile nature, porters were originally former slaves who would be at the beck and call of white travellers.  As the role evolved in later years, it was specifically designed for and dominated by Black men. 

 “Prevailing racist attitudes held that Blacks were socially inferior to whites and were meant to work in such vocations that reinforced this attitude, such as that of the sleeping car porter. Black men from across Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and as far away as Wales and the Dutch East Indies were hired as sleeping car porters for Canadian railway companies” 

Canadian Museum for Human Rights Blog

Porter with Passengers from Canadian National Railway. Source.

As Black men, porters were denied any opportunity to advance to other roles in the company. Yet, there was a certain prestige associated with the role of porter that consistently attracted Blacks to the position. One advantage of the position was that porters travelled exceptional distances, moved from city to city, keeping abreast to the latest news on both the American and Canadian borders. This physical mobility was also connected to their social mobility. Porters were also in the unique position of occupying and existing in traditionally white spaces. The train car became a complex site of racial politics that showcased the struggle for power, agency and resistance. 

The height of this resistance came with the development of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), a labour union that fought relentlessly to organize Blacks and improve conditions for porters.  An associated Ladies Auxiliary supported the Brotherhood and developed a complementary agenda that included progress in education.  Unfortunately, there isn't space to get into all the details in this post but there is a great National Film Board documentary on the topic here.

Ladies Auxiliary, Toronto Pullman Division, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, 1940. Source.

This past November, one of Canada's most recognized names associated with porters passed away.  Stanley G. Grizzle (1918 - 2016), the son of Jamaican immigrants, was a leader in the Toronto Canadian Pacific Railway Division of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Moreover, he also served in World War II with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and was an active and influential leader in labour relations, immigration policy and served as a member of the Joint Labour Committee to Combat Racial Intolerance. He was an active voice in African-Canadian Civil Rights and the recipient of numerous awards. 

Governor General Michaelle Jean & Stanley G. Grizzle. Source.

I have always been fascinated by the ways in which roles that are deemed subservient are actually incredibly subversive, and I’d argue that sleeping car porters and porter agency exemplify this case.  In many ways the story of sleeping car porters is one that challenged representations of Blacks and Blackness.  One of my favourite examples of this can be found on the Virtual Museum of Canada website.

The plaque (seen below) originally hung inside one of Grizzle's sleeping cars. 

"Every porter was in charge of one sleeping car on a train. Because of at times, the demeaning names they were called by passengers, such as "George" or "boy," porters won the right in their first collective agreement with CP Rail in 1945 to have plaques erected in each car stating their name"

Stanley G. Grizzle Plaque  Source.

After years of misrepresentation and oversight, I'm excited about the ways in which the stories and the contributions of African-Canadians have been made visible and are represented in museums.  One prospect I am especially looking forward to is the exhibit Free Black North which opens next month at the Art Gallery of Ontario. There is much work to do to further integrate African Canadian history into the Canadian museological landscape. Fortunately, efforts are not slowing down. The number of exhibitions covered here in this column and the numerous others that did not receive adequate recognition are encouraging signs that this work will continue.  It is especially encouraging that new directions for Black history in Canada are not limited to one route, but rather this exploration is taking place under new conductors through roads less travelled and through intersectional terrain. 

It has been my pleasure to share the phenomenal work going on in the museum world related to Black history.  

Until our paths cross again…

                                          

MUSINGS HITS THE ROAD: A TOUR OF CANADA'S CAPITAL, MMSt CLASS TRIP 2017

WEEKEND EDITION

BY: NATANIA SHERMAN

This past week was reading week, and rather than hibernating, Musings went on a road trip! For those of you unfamiliar with the Museum Studies (MMSt) program, every year the Museum Studies Student Association, MUSSA, hosts a class trip which is open to first and second year MMSt students. Every other year we visit Canada's capital city, Ottawa, to see what's happening in our national museums.

A foggy view of the parliament building (Photo: Natania Sherman)

This year's trip, organized by MUSSA's social chair and Musing's Museum Innovations writer Kelly Mackenzie, brought us to Ottawa in the middle of February where we had the opportunity to devote four days to experiencing the culture and unseasonably mild weather of Ottawa, Ontario.

Between us we managed to visit the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Canadian War Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, the Bytown Museum and the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.

Since Serena and Hayley already provided an overview of the museums and museum programs in Ottawa, this article will just provide a recap of some of the highlights of the trip.

February 23rd

Our first stop at the CMH in Gatineau (Photo: Natania Sherman)

For our first stop, the Canadian Museum of History (CMH), located in Gatineau, Quebec, hosted us for a variety of candid talks about some of their ongoing projects, including the upcoming Franklin Expedition exhibition, inspired by the recent discovery by Parks Canada of the H.M.S. Erebus and Terror in the arctic. We heard from the Virtual Museum of Canada about how they facilitate museum and community online projects and learned a bit about the CMH's approach to accessibility and repatriation of indigenous objects. The highlight, however, was being led on a tour of the Canadian History Hall which is currently under construction but will reopen on Canada Day. I can't wait to go back to see the finished exhibition!

Part of a behind the scenes tour of the Canadian History Hall (Photo: Natania Sherman)

After our day-long visit to the Canadian Museum of History, we had the option to visit the Canadian Museum of Nature or the Canadian War Museum. Choosing which museum to visit in our free time was much like choosing a favourite child, but I ended up visiting the Canadian Museum of Nature to take in the Reptiles exhibit and play with the interactives. All in all, a long day of successful museum-going.

February 24th

Part of the Alex Janvier exhibition at NGC (Photo: Natania Sherman)

Friday brought us to the National Gallery of Canada where we got to hear presentations from staff about their diverse career trajectories and get an inside look at past exhibit, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Lebrun. We got to learn from professionals in every aspect of the museum, from marketing and digital strategies to education and interpretation. We also received a guided tour of the Alex Janvier exhibition from the curatorial team, which provided a deeper perspective into his life and art as well as background to some of the curatorial decision-making that occurred when planning this exhibition.

Students mingling with alumni at Boston Pizza (Photo: Natania Sherman)

In the evening, all students were able to partake in an alumni networking event at Boston Pizza. It was a wonderful experience to get to meet and mingle with so many MMSt alumni working in the Ottawa region and many of us were able to make new connections and get some advice from those who have been there before us.

February 25th

Walking to the Bytown Museum (Photo: Natania Sherman)

On Saturday, the last day of our trip, we had the option to visit either the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum (CASM) or the Bytown Museum for tours of their current exhibitions. This was once again like choosing a favourite child. At the Bytown Museum, we had an amazing tour of the building and got to learn about museum management, especially for a small museum. Those who visited CASM took part in a tour of the collections facilities and current exhibitions. Then we loaded ourselves back on the bus and departed for Toronto


Key Themes from This Year's Trip 

The Sesquicentennial: Canada 150 is a major event that is bound to take over Ottawa, and a major source of funding for cultural organizations. Most of the museums we visited seemed to have some kind of ongoing renovation project related to the sesquicentennial, many of which won't be revealed until July of this year.

Reconciliation: At both the NGC and the CMH many staff members were putting a concerted effort into placing indigenous stories front and centre and trying to place them as part of a living culture within Canadian History. This meant re-evaluating some of the ways indigenous cultures had been displayed previously in their museums and making major changes to interpretive and curatorial practices.

Government: The challenges of being a national museum can impact an institution's scope and mandate as well as create bureaucratic hurdles. Many of the museums we visited had to balance politics with museology as a result of being located in the capital city and political centre of Canada.

Canada 150 logo at the Canadian Museum of Nature (Photo: Natania Sherman)

Thank you to all of the museums and museum professionals who hosted us and shared their current and upcoming projects with us. We really appreciated you taking time out of your busy schedules to talk to us and answer our questions. A special thank you to social chair Kelly Mackenzie and MUSSA for organizing the trip and making sure that everyone had a great time in Ottawa.