A PORTRAIT OF A CITY: IMAGES OF ISTANBUL AT THE AGA KHAN MUSEUM

EXHIBITION REVIEWS

BY: MADELINE SMOLARZ

After hearing about the Aga Khan Museum’s exciting first year of existence from afar, I was finally able to pay it a visit this month. Fortunately, the day I chose happened to be the first day the new temporary exhibition “A City Transformed: Images of Istanbul Then and Now” was open! I found it to be an excellent show with many features of a successful exhibition.

The Aga Khan Museum glowing in the sunset. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz.

There are no photographs allowed in the exhibition space which struck me as ironic as it is an exhibition of photography after all, but of course, I acquiesced as any respectful museum-goer should. Instead of taking my own, I have done my best to provide appropriate images to entice you to make the trip out to the Museum to see this stunning exhibition for yourself.

Walk with me through each section of "Images of Istanbul" and allow your mental portrait of the city to develop.

The entrance into "Images of Istanbul" on the second floor of the Museum. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz.

“Architectural Heritage and Urban Landmarks”

After walking through a foyer-like area that displayed portraits of Istanbul’s photography pioneers such as Vassilaki Kargopoulo, some of the sultans who patronized them, and an early portable travel camera called a Reisekamera, I entered the room where the historic obsession with the stylistic differences in the local architecture became apparent. It can be difficult to make old photos of buildings interesting, but the diversity of the subjects chosen - the Hagia Sophia, a palace, Byzantine-era walls, the waterfront, fortresses, cemeteries, fountains, and more - held my interest. Closed imperial albums sit behind glass, their covers resplendent with rich colour and texture. The iPads subtly embedded in the table beside them happily allow you to digitally turn their pages and see what is inside.

“The Glorification of Istanbul: Panoramas”

Two lengthy, mirror-image panoramas feature prominently in this section of the exhibition. One was taken last year, while the other is 120 years old, but both were taken from the same medieval stone edifice called the Galata Tower in Istanbul. Positioning the photos closely together allows for a direct comparison between the skyline they present. The human landscape of the city and its waterfront has changed quite a great deal. However, nearly all of the mosques and historic architecture remain, some even partially obscured by scaffolding that I hope indicates restoration. The Museum provided little interpretive text, but I appreciated the chance to make my own observations, and many visitors were held captive by the panoramas for several minutes. They are truly breathtaking.

The main image used for the exhibition. Source: The Aga Khan Museum.

“Glimpses Into Everyday Life”

Against the backdrop of a massive, enlarged panorama covering the entire wall of the narrow walkway that allows visitors to gaze down into the permanent exhibition area below, a parade of striking images offer an intimate look into quotidian experiences in Istanbul at the advent of photography. I especially enjoyed the inclusion of stereoscopes and stereoscopic photos, which offered a way to help visitors of all ages to engage with the photographs. Who wouldn’t want to see how past generations made 3D images?

“Murat Germen: Contemporary Photographs of Istanbul”

In Murat Germen’s Istanbul, the past and present literally collide in the many “muta-morphosis” images he has created by horizontally compressing panoramas of the city. I’ve personally never seen anything like these photographs, and this method suits Germen’s purposes perfectly. He expresses a kind of cautionary tale about the effects of rapid growth in an ancient city by evoking the collision of ideas, people, buildings, and time. A series of impressive, unconstricted modern panoramas also by Germen are also displayed as an antithetical contrast, and a selection of historic panoramic albums remind visitors of the origins of this photography practise in the sprawling metropolis.

One of Germen's visually arresting "muta-morphosis" photographs. Source: The Aga Khan Museum.

“A City Transformed: Images of Istanbul Then and Now” will be open from February 6, 2016 - June 26, 2016 and is located on the second floor of the Aga Khan Museum. I hope you go visit, and if you do, share your thoughts in the comments!

THIS IS THE DROID WE'RE LOOKING FOR

OBJECT OF THE WEEK

BY: ROWENA MCGOWAN

Last year, a little movie came out that you might have heard of.

You know, if you were really paying attention, you might have caught a whisper. Source.

I jest, of course. Disney’s marketing kicked into high gear last year to make sure that everyone was excited about the new Star Wars movie. A lot of the marketing focused on BB-8, the adorable new droid starring in the film, who premiered in the first teaser released in November 2014.

It doesn't even have cheeks and I want to pinch them. Source.

 Of course, people got excited about BB-8. Somehow, the filmmakers had made a droid even cuter than R2-D2. And BB-8 had a cool, if apparently impractical, design. BB-8’s lower body is a sphere, the head a small dome perched on top. As the body rolls, the head stays perfectly in place. It was a pretty weird design but hey, with CGI you can produce anything, no matter how physically impossible, so people were mostly nonplussed.

Then, during the Star Wars Celebration 2015, BB-8 rolled out on stage.

Source

People went nuts. It had actually already been confirmed, in December 2014, that BB-8 was a physical prop but I don’t think people were really expecting it to actually be able to move autonomously. Somehow, this weird little thing could move, look around and interact with the world without its head falling off. The Internet being the Internet, the race was on to figure out how BB-8 works.

With all of nerddom bent on solving this problem, we must know by now, right? Not so much. Disney has never confirmed exactly how BB-8 works so we’re still just guessing.

People pretty quickly connected BB-8 with the Sphero, another spherical rolling robot. This seemed like a pretty safe guess, since Disney had actually contributed funds to start the company behind it. However, Sphero didn’t have a head on top, which is the truly amazing part of BB-8, and Lucasfilm released a statement saying that, in fact, Sphero’s mechanism was not used because it didn’t produce the expressiveness that BB-8 demanded.

The Sphero. Source

So, how does BB-8 work? Magic? Giant hamster ball? (Don’t laugh, it was suggested!). The best guess comes from howbb8works.com, which is run by Carlos Sánchez and Emilio Gelardo.

They discovered a patent filed by Disney for a magnetic spherical balancing robot drive. One of the descriptions pretty closely matches BB-8. The body rolls using omni wheels (wheels which can roll in any direction) and relies on accelerometers and gyroscopes to know its position in space. The body also has a mast inside, which swivels around as the body moves so the head can reposition itself (for a video of how it works, click here). How does the head stick to the mast? That’s still the biggest question but the general consensus is magnets.
 

BB-8 drive mechanisms (Copyright and trademark Lucasfilm Ltd, all rights reserved. Image: Carlos Sanchez and Emilio Gelardo / howbb8works.com). Source

This is all very cool but is all this pop culture and techy stuff really relevant to the museum world? I think so. Museums are unique because of their focus on objects but lately, especially with the rise of digitization, we’ve been wondering how much the physical object really matters. Can people form the same connection from just looking at a picture or a digital model?

I think BB-8 and the broader Star Wars movie proves how much the object still matters. It would have been far easier for the filmmakers to just use CGI to create BB-8, just as it would have been easier for them to skip many of the physical effects they used. But they didn’t. They took the time to make a functioning prop. They played with it. They innovated. They poured their hearts and souls into BB-8. And people responded. They got excited. They got curious. They started theorizing how it worked and sharing ideas. They researched. They built websites. They built working models. None of that would have happened if BB-8 had been just a collection of pixels on a screen.

CGI creates marvels. But objects, physical objects, still have the ability to connect with people in a special way. BB-8 would always have been cute. But the magic happened when we found out it was real.

Also, when tired MMSt students misspoke the name. That was pretty magical, too. Credit: Olivia Gawron

Sources

howbb8works.com

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2015/12/30/how-bb8-works-star-wars/#769ef102ab2e

Want to try making one of your own?

"JEWELLERY" BEFORE HOMO SAPIENS?

MUSEUM MYSTERIES

BY: CHRISTOPHER WAI

Note: For readers with a biological anthropology background, I am aware of the technical error above. Unfortunately I couldn't properly italicize Homo sapiens in the title!

Denisovan bracelet, Museum of History and Culture of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East in Novosibirsk.  Photograph by Vera Salnitskaya

2015 was a great year for evolutionary anthropology with the most exciting find being the potentially new member of our genus: Homo naledi. However, two other interesting news stories have also been added to the new questions we have in the new year. 

Eagle talons that may have formed part of a necklace/pendant by Neandethals and a Denisovan stone bracelet. 

Neanderthal made Eagle Talon necklace Pendant? Photograph by Luka Mjeda, Zagreb

Eagle Talon Necklace- Homo Neanderthalensis

Found over a century ago in Krapina, Croatia in association with the Mousterian stone tool tradition of the Neanderthals, Davorka Radovčić, a curator of Geology and Paleontology at the Croatian Natural History Museum, theorized that they may have been part of a necklace or pendant.

The evidence?

Notches on the talons.

Fig 7. Three examples of human manipulation

Convinced?

The results of this research were published on March 11, 2015 by Radovčić, and his colleagues. It can be read in its entirety here.

Bigger Context: What we now know about Homo Neanderthalensis?

This possible example of Neanderthal ornamentation is not isolated.

"Ornaments are commonly associated with fossil Homo sapiens and are thought to represent the special cognitive abilities and symbolic capacities of modern humans [1–4]. Studies in recent years have documented Neandertals using or producing art and symbolic items evidenced by unusual lithic objects [5], feathers [6–7], modified shells [8–9], ochre [10–13], mobiliary and cave art [14–17] and very sporadically raptor talons, consisting of single elements, presumably used as pendants [18].[...]

They are the earliest evidence for jewelry in the European fossil record and demonstrate that Neandertals possessed a symbolic culture long before more modern human forms arrived in Europe." - Davorka Radovčić et al. 2015

Discussions on Neanderthal complexity have been a core part of present day research that has reevaluated much of the older misconceptions about the Neanderthals. Unfortunately, the persistent myth of them being vastly inferior, dumb or vicious comes from the misinterpretations and rhetoric from the 19th century and reinforcement into the 20th in pop culture.

Appears to be an image from one of the old Field Museum dioramas. Source.

A more recent recent reconstruction of a Neanderthal woman and man. Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germany. Source.

Neanderthals preceded us and were still around by the time we arrived from Africa. We coexisted with them, but they died off relatively soon after. Perhaps it was because of the competition for resources with us, a changing environment, and to a lesser extent interbreeding (some populations appear to have anywhere from 1-4% neanderthal DNA, though there is still a longstanding debate). The Neanderthal genome has also been sequenced as of 2010 by the Max Planck Institute.

They were more robust, often had larger skulls than ours (sloped foreheads and larger brow ridges but not small heads!) could methodically craft stone tools, used spears to hunt and maintained fires.

There are also possibly multiple cases of them purposefully burying their dead.

Reconstruction of burial at La Chappelle-Aux-Saints.
PHOTOGRAPH BY DEA, A. DAGLI ORTI/DE AGOSTINI Getty Images

Denisovan Stone Bracelet

Who?

The Denisovians are a group that is less well known and understood, but research is ongoing! In fact, the exact taxonomy has yet to be settled on. 

Denisova hominin vs. Homo sp. Altai vs. Homo sapiens ssp. 'Denisova'?

The expediently long and short of it though is that they may have co-existed and interbred with both humans and Neanderthals based on DNA evidence.

This chlorite bracelet originally found in 2008 adds another component to the puzzle though. 

Researchers do not believe that it was contamination from a more recent context/ level, but if not, then all we have are questions.

Bracelet from Denisova Cave, Altai Region, Siberia. Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov

Reconstruction. Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov, Vera Salnitskaya

What makes this discovery perplexing is that the techniques and skills required to produce this artifact has never been known to have existed during this particular time.

Evidence of drilling. Anatoly Derevvanko and Mikhail Shunkov, Vera Salnitskava.

It implies that the Denisovans had a well-developed a skill set that neither H. sapiens nor H. neanderthalensis had then.

Unfortunately, it is the only example thus far. 

Perhaps more details will follow.

Conclusion of Questions

There are many questions to be asked about the complexity of our relatives and also how similarly or differently we saw the world.

What it means to be uniquely human and whether that existential question or crisis matters is almost always brought up. In our humanly quest to eternally redefine ourselves as special, we may separate ourselves too much. But at the same time, when we draw similarities, do we also draw false equivalences?

It's the old "splitters vs. lumpers" debate that occurs in anthropology when it comes to creating categories.

What are the Neanderthals and Denisovans to us? How different were they?

These pieces are also unique in that they have survived in the material record and there are few other examples to look at, so how much can we read into them? 

When it comes to the objects above, shall we call them "jewellery", decoration, personal, ritual adornment, and all the implications (i.e. economic, cultural, ethnic, social, gender-based constructs associations) that come with them?

Where shall we stand I wonder, when it comes to making sense of this?

Reconstruction of a Neandertal girl.
Rekonstruktion eines Neandertalermädchens.
© Johannes Krause, Neandertal group by Atelier Daynes, Paris, France. In: Museum of the Krapina Neanderthals, Krapina, Croatia. Project and realization of the Museum: Zeljko Kovacic and Jakov Radovcic.

Reconstruction of a Neandertal group.
(© Johannes Krause, Neandertal group by Atelier Daynes, Paris, France. In: Museum of the Krapina Neanderthals, Krapina, Croatia. Project and realization of the Museum: Zeljko Kovacic and Jakov Radovcic.

THE APOCALYPTIC COLLECTION

COLLECTIONS CORNER

BY: JENNIFER MAXWELL

The end is nigh…

The Apocalypse is here. From arthouse films to summer blockbusters, destroying the world and surviving its aftermath has never been more popular. But there is one bright spot to be found in all the blood and mayhem: like in all apocalyptic fiction, something of society survives.

As shown in many films and TV shows – such as 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, and The 100 – certain cultural artefacts are often saved as representatives of a lost society when the apocalypse hits. That being said, these fictional works assume that these collections have been pre-selected by a council of “experts”. Fictional experts aside, I was curious to know what other cultural artefacts might survive an apocalypse. So I asked and you responded! Drumroll…and the lucky objects are:

Taxidermy Passenger Pigeon

“I know that sounds strange but I figure the world may need an environmental reminder of how things can go wrong. Is that so terribly grim?” – Jenny

© 2016 Smithsonian Institution

Tina Turner’s steel mail dress from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

“If the world has gone to hell, I will track down Tina Turner's steel mail dress from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome to assert myself as chief badass in the apocalyptic wasteland, and preserve (pop) cultural memory.” – Anya

Source

Zippo Lighter
"It's iconic, portable, and most of all, a survival tool." – Glenn

North Pacific Coast No. 12 Sonoma

“It’s one of the most beautiful locomotives; a sad reminder of the destruction of our home in this world and the irrevocable remorse of manifest destiny.” – Alex

© 2011-2014 California State Railroad Museum

The Declaration of Independence

“It contains such beautiful and inspiring words about equality and happiness… The Declaration of Independence is also a self-rescuing princess and that’s why I know it will survive the apocalypse!” – MD

Steamboat Willie animated short film

“Because who doesn’t love Disney, really?” – Anonymous

Golden Horse Fountain of Yarmouth, NS

“It just reminds me of home, and I can’t imagine surviving the apocalypse without it. Plus it has already survived nature’s elements, wayward snowplows, and a home-made bomb – not to mention high school grads!” – Sheila

© Parks Canada

“The Paper Bag Princess” by Robert Munsch

“It’s a fantastic story that invites kids to use their imaginations while also promoting girl power!” – Pamela

© 2016 Robert Munsch

Magna Carta

“It’s the document that led to democracy and modern civilization. If civilization is ending then it’s the one document that we should save to rebuild it.” – Tim

“It’s such a symbol for the advancement of equality in human kind. It begins the weakening of the ruling power and the steps towards the democracy (mostly) that we continue to thrive in.” – Sarah

© British Library Board

Original script for Star Wars

“Only because it would be funny if it became a creation story.” – Anonymous

A Pink Bedazzled Hammer

“Gilmore Girls said it best: I can use it to build a really pretty house in the post-apocalypse. It also doubles as a weapon.” – Jessica

Source

The Rosetta Stone

“It gave us the ability to understand Egyptian hieroglyphics and if civilization does collapse and become something out of the TV show The 100, it would provide the opportunity to rediscover Greek.” – Victoria

“Language is the most important tool humans have. And it’s a fascinating reminder of its evolution.” – Beka

© The Trustees of the British Museum

Original manuscripts of “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien

“[Tolkien] is one of the greatest authors of all time. It’s a timeless story that can lend its teachings to all aspects of life; something that could be read over and would still show you something new each time.” – Josh

© 2016, Peter Harrington

World Topographic Map

“Large and detailed….I would try to get one without country boundaries. Depending on the type of apocalypse, it could be very useful or remind future societies of what was destroyed.” – Leena

© 2008-2015 National Geographic Maps

The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) on vinyl
"There is an element of sunshine and comfort when listening to the music. It would certainly make for a nice, mellow afternoon in the bunker.” – Jennifer

A massive thank-you to everyone who participated in my call-out on social media!

Last chance, the apocalypse is here! What cultural artefact would you save?

MARIA MONTESSORI'S DREAM VS BENITO MUSSOLINI'S OBJECTIVES

WALK OF FAME

BY: AMANDA BARBOSA 

Sometimes when I have nothing to do, I look through my old undergrad assignments. I know, what a nerdy thing of me to do. Last week I had one of my nostalgic academic sessions and came across a final paper from a fourth year course on Maria Montessori and her decision to work with Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. You may have heard of and seen Montessori schools before. Her teaching methods are based on the idea that children should not be completely dependent on adults, but should instead learn through sight and touch. 

Maria Montessori. Source. 

Benito Mussolini. Source.

Now why would I write a paper on two very different personalities and why I am spotlighting them, (although I really want to focus on Montessori), in this month’s Walk of Fame article? 

Maria Montessori was a very influential and dedicated woman. She was determined to implement her teaching methods all over the world so that children everywhere could benefit from them. After she graduated from her technical studies, she decided to enter medical school. Although she was denied entrance into the University of Rome, she reapplied and became the first woman to obtain a medicine degree from that university. Still, in the classroom she was met with hostile attitudes and often faced discriminatory regulations. In 1897, she decided to work as a voluntary assistant at the university psychiatric clinic. There, she became interested in working with children with disabilities. In 1901 she and Dr. Montesano (Montessori’s lab partner whom she fell in love with) worked in a “Orthophrenic School,” where children with disabilities excelled in their studies. This would lead Montessori to establish a “Casa dei Bambini” (Children House) in 1907 where she would use her teaching method on children that did not have disabilities.

A Montessori School. Source. 

Although her work and schools gained international recognition, her methods were never really fully adopted in Italy, her home country. It was her dream to have this realized and it was Mussolini who offered to realize this dream. In fact, 74 Montessori schools were opened in Italy. Mussolini, however, had different intentions. He wanted to use her recognition to his benefit. Eventually, as Montessori realized what he was trying to do, she denounced Fascism. The Fascist Regime closed down all Montessori schools in Italy in 1934.   

It was very odd that two individuals with such different objectives were to work with one another. Mussolini was all about regimenting the children, while Montessori was about freeing their learning habits. What I argued in my paper is that rational people will often fall to irrational people and that is what happened in this case. In order to really understand and assess the situation, however, we really need to think about what the political, economic and social conditions were like.

I decided to dedicate this month's article to Montessori because I did some research and found out that the Association Montessori Internationale’s headquarter office, located in Amsterdam, has recently acquired the property attached to it. It will be made into the “Maria Montessori House,” which will be a museum, research centre and archive. It will need to be stripped down as it is an 100-year-old house. The head office is actually where Montessori last lived. If you would like to find out more information, click here. 

Until next time! 

Sources Consulted: 

Association Montessori Internationale. (2016). “Legacy.” Retrieved from http://ami-global.org/ami/what-is-ami/legacy 

Barbosa, Amanda. (2013). Final Essay: Maria Montessori. Unpublished Paper, York University.

Babini, Valeria. (2000). Science, Feminism and Education: The Early Work of Maria Montessori. History Workshop Journal, 49, 44-67.

Hall, Clifton L. (1953). The First Lady of Education. History of Education Journal, 4 (4), 124-128.

Kramer, Rita. (1983). Maria Montessori: A Biography. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.

Montessori, Maria. (1964). The Montessori Method. New York: Schocken Books Inc.

Thayer-Bacon, Barbara. (2011). Maria Montessori: Education for Peace. Journal of Peace Education and Social Justice, 5 (3), 307-319. 

CANADA GETS IN FORMATION FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH

AFRICAN CANADIAN HISTORY

BY: ANNISSA MALVOISIN

Editor's Note: Click the date for more information about the event!

A piece from the Water Carry Me Go Fashion Show. Photographer: Jalani Morgan, Model: Aluad Anei, Garment by: Carol Barretto. (Image Source: Hawa Noor) 

As this glorious month comes to an end, I thought it best to provide you with a list of some of the great events that occurred and are currently ongoing celebrating the accomplishments of Black Canadians and beyond.

I only list 9, but make no mistake there are many more events!

First up,

Friday Night Live Encore: One Love Celebrates Bob Marley at the Royal Ontario Museum

Possibly one of the best FNL's that I have ever attended, the ROM outdid itself with a combination of a Bahamian carnival procession line, "Water Carry Me Go" a beautifully powerful fashion show (by SUPAFRIK), full on chicken roti, and a soca/dancehall/afrobeat party entitled GUMBO (also by SUPAFRIK) that had the whole of Bronfman Hall in a complete dance mania. The event brought together the diverse cultural cores that makes up Toronto's Black community all while learning about Hatschepsut's trip to Punt in the Ancient Egypt Gallery.

My breath was clearly taken. (Image Source: Myriam Dioubaté)

February 5, 2016.

The Music Gallery Presents: Val Inc + Witch Poet
The New Black: Challenging Musical Tropes Panel Discussion

Val-Inc. (Image Source)

This past weekend, a discussion around music, stereotypes and Black culture took place with Black artists who challenge these stereotypes through their art. The event sought to create a dialogue regarding Afro-diasporic cultural expression in music and its under-representation with a focus on Canadian industry.

The panel included Haitian Afro-Electronica music artist Val-Inc, Toronto-based Ethiopian-Eritrian music artist Witch Prophet, Garvia Bailey from Jazz FM and CBC's Exhbitionists host Amanda Parris.

February 20, 2016.

Zun Lee: Fade Resistance - An Exhibition of Found Polaroids at the Gladstone Hotel

The Gladstone Hotel has been on my arts and culture radar this year, and this exhibition has secured its spot. An archival project seeking to discover the stories behind snapshot photographs of Black individuals, Zun Lee put together a powerful display that questions Black agency and empowerment. The event explains that, "These images reflect the way black people saw themselves on their terms - without the intention of being seen, or judged, by others." I haven't seen this yet, but I will be seeing you soon Gladstone Hotel!

(Image Source)

February 1-28, 2016.

Black Future Month 3016 Exhibition and the Pixelation Exhibition at the Ontario College of Art and Design University

OCAD U just went along and made my heart smile this month:


The Black Future Month 3016 Afro Futurism Art Exhibition is the 4th annual installation of its kind. The artists in the exhibit explore Black identity from a futuristic point of view, placing it in real or imagined space and time. This also happens to be the longest consecutively running Black art exhibition in Toronto.

(Image Source)

February 3-20, 2016.


Pixelation is another installation at the institution that explores Black identity. This time, Graphic Design student Zvikomborero Mhakayakora curates 11 artists that challenge and question the representation or lack thereof of Blackness in contemporary art:

"...in order to reflect on how black identity has been formed and continues to be made in this contemporary moment. These works explore many themes including whiteness as default, institutionalized ethnocentrism, displacing racial stereotypes, internalized self-hatred, resistance against consumer culture, dominant settler society, modern practices of enslavement, notions of identity, the process of decolonization and the search for "home"".

February 1- March 1, 2016 in OCAD U's Main Lobby.

Historica Canada Celebrates Black Canadian Women at the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax

Historica Canada hosted a lavish evening of food and drink alongside the opportunity to experience the storytelling of female leaders in Canada's Black community who have been trailblazers in their own right as well as inspiration for others. I'll toast to that.

February 11, 2016.

Veteran's Voices: Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the No. 2 Construction Battalion display at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives

(Image Source)

The No. 2 Construction Battalion was the only Black segregated battalion in Canada during the First World War. In commemoration and honour of this, PAMA unveiled a Canadian postage stamp featuring soldiers from the Battalion.

January 20-March 30, 2016.

Toronto Black Film Festival 2016

TBFF's mission is to allow their audience to discover - and this year, that is just what they did. Throughout the first two weeks of February, film screenings of diasporic experiences to talks about The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution with remarkable individuals, the festival was definitely an event worth taking part in for this year and those to come.

February 10-14, 2016.

Songs and Stories 'bout Slavery and the Underground Railroad (UGGR) with Singer and Song-Writer Lonnie Glass at Victoria Central Library

Lonnie Glass creates an innovative way to experience history by using his musicality to tell stories of the Underground Railroad and enslaved peoples.

February 4, 2016.


This month was indeed an event-filled recognition of Blackness, and the Canadian arts and culture industry were key players in that. Although I would love to see these events take place year-round as much as within the month of February, creating a stronger and more rounded experience for everyone.

WHEN YOUR BISCUITS ARE LIKE ROCKS: INCLUDING IMPERFECTION IN HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

HISTORIC KITCHEN
CANADA PART 2: 19TH CENTURY ONTARIO COOKING FT. IMMIGRANTS FROM THE ISLES

BY: LEAH MONCADA

Selected Recipes
New Cock-a-Leekie soup
"Excellent Hot Tea Cakes"
Cranberry Pie

This second edition of Canadian cooking shall feature Immigrants from the British Isles in 19th century Ontario cooking! All recipes are sourced from Beeson, P. (1993). Macdonald was late for dinner: A slice of culinary life in early Canada. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview Press.

If you've ever watched "Chopped: Canada", you can sympathize with me when I say that I would be first on the chopping block. Do I cook with enthusiasm? Heck yes! Bravery? You betcha! Skill? Eh....in time, I tell myself, in time. Many times over this Historic Kitchen project I have looked askance at my final product....doubting that I have made it correctly. I would bet good money that my attempt at Patina of Pears would make even the dour Cato the Elder roll over laughing. The difficulty with creating recipes of unfamiliar dishes is that you have no idea if you are wrong, or how you are wrong. Just that unpleasant niggling sensation that something must be different....since "there is no way this thing should be so jiggly/...neon.../crunchy/[insert questionable adjective here]!"

On my quest to make dishes from 19th century immigrants, I once again encountered the issue of producing questionable products. But instead of despair over my rock-like biscuits, I thought, "well who said everyone in the 19th century made PERFECT biscuits? Everytime???" They didn't. Human error is an entirely everyday phenomenon that we cannot exclude from our historical narrative or interpretation simply because it doesn't look nice when staged. "Ugly" food or brick biscuits are just as representative and informative of their lives as elegantly plated and fluffy cloud-like rolls!

Working historic kitchen at Montgomery's Inn, interpreted to the 1840s. Photo: Leena Kilback

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with our MMSt colleague Leena Kilback, who is a former intern and current volunteer at a local historic kitchen from the 19th century. Montgomery Inn's is one of Toronto's Historic sites, interpreted to its heyday of the 1840s. It was a tavern, assembly hall and boarding house during a time when European travellers and settlers of English, Irish, and Scottish origin were flooding to the area. Before the multinational wave of immigrants in the early 20th century (and steadily onwards), Ontario received most of its immigrants from the British Isles (which include the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Hebrides, and many smaller islands). It would not be until closer to the turn of the century that immigrants of Polish, Italian, Russian, and American (such as the Pennsylvania who settled in Markham) ethnicity would rise in number.

Today, Montgomery's Inn continues its tradition and practice of hospitality, not only as a rentable venue, but also for hosting events and food programs around the history and context of 19th century Toronto. The Inn hosts a weekly tea service, a monthly "Thirsty Thursday" pub night, and bakes bread using historic Ontario stone ground mill flour for their weekly food market. As practiced as their cooks are, mistakes or sooty ovens still happen! However, guests and customers are treated to only the successful food items. The rare misshapen jellies or sooty loaves of bread are given to volunteers to enjoy. Display and acknowledgement of less-than-perfect food is one thing. Serving it is another entirely.

School programs allow children to help bake molasses cookies by hand grinding nutmeg and grinding cone sugar using a mortal and pestle to demonstrate labour of 19th century cooking. Holiday and themed events allow for lavish table settings consisting of historic recipes, using modern adaptations of shrimp inside moulded gelatin, christmas cakes, holiday cookies, autumnal pies, and various arranged platters of period themed food. Leena described the tireless research she conducted into table settings and displays so as to authentically present the visual splendour of parties in this era. (Even though the Inn hosted boarders, not parties, it takes advantage of the opportunity to interpret both!)

"The Morrison family - Came from South Uist to Canada in 1887 and settled in Grand Valley, near Cochrane. Image courtesy of Glenbow Museum." Source.

In the 19th century the publication of cookbooks became more common as households of recent immigrant and working families turned to economy. Cookbooks were being written for those who were not professional cooks or living in wealthy homes, but women who's primary role was seen as manager of the household. As found in the preface of this 1868 Dominion Home Cookbook, it was written for "practical utility" and economy. Such cookbooks served as manuals for household economics, but also as bastions of cultural cuisine from their communities of origin. In this Sophie Coe Prize-winning Essay, the author uses an 1840 era French Canadian cookbook to demonstrate how foodways, and the act of compiling a cookbook, were utilized to promote and preserve (or "fossilize" as the author so puts it) the traditional 17th century French cooking amongst the presence of so many identities in the Canadian landscape. Similarly, cookbooks of Scottish, English, or various other cuisines served the same purpose.


New Cock-a-Leekie Soup- MacDonald Was Late to Dinner, Patricia Beeson
The Canadian Housewife's Manual of Cookery, Hamilton, 1861

Cock-a-Leekie Soup. Photo: Leah Moncada

2 lbs veal cutlet or fowl

1/2 cup butter

2 onions, sliced

1/4 lbs lean bacon

3 cloves

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup and 10 cups water

2 lbs leeks

16 cups water

18 fresh prunes

Cut the meat into pieces. Put in pan with butter, onions, bacon, cloves, salt, sugar, pepper and 1/2 cup water. Cook, turning over until a white glaze appears on the bottom. Add 10 cups of water, and simmer for 30 minutes. Pass through a sieve and save the best pieces of meat. 

In another pan blanche the white parts of the leeks for 10 minutes in 16 cups of water, then drain. Boil the stock and half the leeks together till reduced by half. Add the other half of leeks, meat and prunes. Simmer for 30 minutes and serve. 

During this influx of immigrants from the Isles, Hamilton became heavily populated with those of Scottish ancestry. This soup, sometimes called Scotland's national dish, is a nice example of something they would have eaten in this time. (Interesting to note, it was one of two soups for lunch on the Titanic the day it sank!) I loved the added depth from the prune flavour, and thought this soup was quite good! Beeson notes that the inclusion of prunes reveals this dish to hail from Edinburgh in particular. (My own research has revealed that prunes are considered a traditional method that fell out of favour in the mid 19th century in some parts of Scotland, and remained in practice in some areas to this day. The reason for citing Edinburgh has remained elusive!)

Dundurn Castle, Hamilton ON. Source.

One of the famous Canadian figures of Scottish ancestry is Sir Allan Napier MacNab, whose stately home our MMSt Class is visiting today! During the 19th century, important visitors to Niagara Falls would reside in the halls of Dundurn Castle. Among these guests are such names as Lord and Lady Dufferin, who visited in 1872, and the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) during his tour of Canada in 1860. MacNab served as Premier of the Province of Canada (the united Canadas before Confederation) from 1854-1856.


Catharine Parr Traill's "Excellent Hot Tea Cakes" - MacDonald Was Late to Dinner, Patricia Beeson
The Canadian Settler's Guide, C. P. Traill, 1860

"Adamantine Hot Tea Cakes" Source.

Whoops! Wrong photo! ;)

"Excellent Hot Tea Cakes." (Veritable bricks that they were.) Photo: Leah Moncada

2 cups flour

2 tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

milk to mix

Grease baking sheet. Sift flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Rub in butter with fingertips. Mix with milk to form a soft dough. Roll to 1 inch thickness. Cut out with a tumbler. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.

I learned something valuable about historical reinterpretation of foodways in this dish. I debated not including this recipe, as the biscuits could've built houses. "I didn't make them right, they aren't the real thing!" Yet, who says imperfect biscuits aren't just as faithful to historic interpretation than exquisitely crafted ones? Didn't historic cooks also turn out burned pastries, tough biscuits, overdone meat, deflated soufflé, and overly salty soup? Of course they did! "Perfect" and artistically staged dishes in historical reinterpretation of foods is actually less authentic than the messy, maybe burnt, products of a busy and hectic working kitchen. It is important to remember when we walk through historic kitchens and dinning rooms that the clean, quiet, warm, and organized spaces are falsely represented as such.

This recipe comes from Catharine Parr Traill, a famous Canadian author and botanist who wrote extensively about her immigration from England, settler life in the 'backwoods', and new life in Peterborough, Ontario.


Cranberry Pie- MacDonald Was Late to Dinner, Patricia Beeson
Mrs. McMaster, The Canadian Home Cook Book, complied by the Ladies of Toronto and Chief Cities and Towns in Canada, 1877

Mrs. McMaster's Cranberry Pie. Photo: Leah Moncada

4 cups of cranberries

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2 cup sugar

puff or shortcrust pastry for 1 pie

icing sugar if short crust

Pick over and wash berries. Put in a dish with lemon and sugar. Cover with pastry and bake at 350F for 45 minutes. If short crust used, take from over 5 minutes early, cover with icing sugar, return to oven, and complete baking.

The McMasters have a strong legacy in Ontario. Known for her "will of unbending steel," Mrs Elizabeth McMaster served as one of the founding members of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, whose establishment helped Toronto's child mortality rate to plummet. She served as Treasurer for the new Hospital, and started a wildly popular cookbook fundraiser, The Canadian Home Cook Book, complied by the Ladies of Toronto and Chief Cities and Towns in Canada. McMaster wrote the preface and contributed a few of her own recipes, including the above (delicious) Cranberry Pie. A huge success, the book would come to run over 80 editions (eventually dropping "Canadian" from the title for American audiences). Her husband headed the Bank of Commerce and founded McMaster University.

You may notice Beeson has written options for both puff pastry as well as short crust. Short crust is a more crumbly, tough pastry that is more liquid resistant than puff pastry. It is commonly used in the bottom of quiches and heavy pies that have runny fillings. Puff pastry is the delicate light and flaky pastry used in pies and light pastries. I include this for any cooks who want to add pastry terminology to their Trivial Pursuit arsenal!


Next time on Historic Kitchen: The 20th saw a diverse set of cooking practices, from Wartime cooking to Centennial celebrations, as well as modern First Nations cuisine!

ANCIENT HOARDERS: MUSEUMS C. 500 BCE

 THROWBACK THURSDAY

BY: JOCELYN KENT

The mouseion ("house of the muses") from Disney's Hercules. Source.

This week, Throwback Thursday takes us farther back than ever before, to examine three early expressions of the museological impulse. Time to put the Muses back into the museum…


THE MUSEUM OF PRINCESS ENNIGALDI c. 540BC

The ziggurat at Ur, c. 1930  and now. Source and source.

While excavating the city of Ur in the 1920s, archaeologist Leonard Woolley’s work reached theretofore unimagined levels of meta when he uncovered an ancient museum within the women’s school complex run by the Princess Ennigaldi.

Ennigaldi’s father, King Nabonidus, one of the first archaeologists in history, spent his reign surveying the ancient monuments of Ur (already 4000 years old even then). Yet, Woolley was still surprised to discover a diverse selection of items - the arm of a statue, a ceremonial boundary stone, clay tablets, a stone mace head, etc. - resting in a line on an elevated platform.

“What were we to think? Here were half a dozen diverse objects found lying on an unbroken brick pavement of the sixth century B.C., yet the newest of them was seven hundred years older than the pavement and the earliest perhaps sixteen hundred..."(Excavations At Ur, p. 237)

Probably the oldest museum label in the world. Woolley noted it was filled with so many factual errors and "so full of blunders as to be almost unintelligble." Plus ça change... Source.

The discovery of a cylindrical clay “exhibit label” amongst these items proved to be “the key” to recognizing the museological purpose of the room.


THE TREASURIES OF DELPHI c. 500BC

The restored Athenian treasury at Athens, one of the only standing structures remaining at Delphi, lacking the ornaments and objects which decorated it historically. Source.

If the Olympics were the main competition amongst the Greeks, Delphi was their trophy case. Delphi was a cultural focus for the Greek world; its hillsides were littered with monuments and treasure houses commemorating founding myths, successful campaigns, and personal victories. This allowed smaller cities to tell their stories and for superpowers like Athens to flaunt their wealth, keeping the Greek world intelligible.

A watercolour reconstruction of Delphi by Albert Tournaire, based on contemporary excavations. Source.

Little of this remains today. Looters eventually picked Delphi clean, with ample help from the Roman emperors; Nero alone allegedly took 500 bronze statues from Delphi to decorate his villa.


THE TISBURY HOARD c. 700BC

A selection of bronze implements from the Tisbury Hoard. Source.

Discovered in 2011, the Tisbury Hoard superficially resembles other treasure hoards previously discovered in Britain. What sets apart its 114 bronze weapons, tools, and ornaments is their age difference; although buried together c. 700BC, they cover a span of 1000 years. Archaeologists now believe that the Tisbury Hoard, and similar recently discovered hoards, represent “community museums” used by Iron Age Britons to offer “respect to distant ancestors”.

The three collections examined here differed widely in purpose: education, celebration, or communal memory. But behind each of them was a desire, familiar to us, to commemorate the past through its material remnants.

Do you have a favourite proto-museum? The Great Library of Alexandria? The Imperial Treasury in Vienna? Give a holler below.