Exploring Exhibits: “Notman, Visionary Photographer” at the Canadian Museum of History

On yet another museum visit, Chris and I checked out the current temporary exhibit at the Canadian Museum of History, “Notman, Visionary Photographer.” This exhibit is the first retrospective entirely devoted to exploring the work of William Notman, a photographer originally from Scotland, who immigrated to Canada and over the course of the late 19th century founded a chain of studios under the name Wm. Notman & Son.

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Exploring Exhibits: “Medieval Europe: Power and Splendour” at the Canadian Museum of History

Recently Chris and I ventured to the Canadian Museum of History to catch the temporary exhibit, “Medieval Europe: Power and Splendour” before it closed. In a past undergraduate life I actually was a bit of a medievalist, so I was pretty interested to check out this exhibit.

Exploring Exhibits: Canadian Museum of Nature Research and Collections Facility Open House

This past Saturday, Chris and I decided to take a little adventure across the river and go to the Canadian Museum of Nature’s open house of their collections storage facility. This is an annual event that I’ve been meaning to go to for years, but this year the timing finally worked out, and I have to say that it was well worth the trip!

Exploring Exhibits: Dundurn Castle, The Bata Shoe Museum, and Mackenzie House

The week before last Chris and I took a jam-packed vacation to Toronto for some much needed adventures, and of course, we stopped in to a couple of historic sites and museums along the way. We took far too many pictures and saw too many things to be able to do a good deep-dive into the exhibits and tours we experienced, so I decided to just post some slideshows from each visit, and highlight a couple of my favourite things.

Exploring Exhibits: Instameet at the new Ottawa Art Gallery

On Wednesday, April 25, Chris and I had the opportunity to get a sneak-preview of the new Ottawa Art Gallery building with the Instagrammers of Ottawa! I work for the Canadian Museums Association, so the opening of the new gallery space was definitely on my radar, and from all of the articles anticipating it, I was pretty excited to check it out.

Exploring Exhibits: Butterflies in Flight at the Canadian Museum of Nature

Yesterday Chris and I took advantage of the beautiful long weekend to take in one of the last days of the Butterflies in Flight exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Nature, and let me  tell you, this one was really quite magical.

Research Ramblings: Having a Conversazione at the National Museum of Canada

Lately I’ve been looking through newspaper clippings to try to find anything I can about the national museums of Canada. In one of my online expeditions, I came across a clipping titled: “Keenly Interested in Fish Culture: Children So Numerous Lecture Given Twice.” Yes, you read that correctly.

Exploring Exhibits: “She Who Tells a Story – Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World” at the Canadian War Museum

This past Wednesday on the 6th of December, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the opening of a new special exhibit hosted by the Canadian War Museum, called “She Who Tells a Story – Women Photographers From Iran and the Arab World.” The exhibit travelled to the War Museum from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where it was curated by Kristen Gresh. The exhibit featured the photographic work of twelve prominent contemporary female photographers who had roots in the Middle East. Each photographer captured images that reflected the lived experiences of women and girls in the Middle East within the context of war, the policing of bodies, and other unique factors which shape their daily lives. Gresh was in attendance to open the exhibit, and spoke about how her time in Cairo was what led her to the works and artists featured in the exhibit. Early in the exhibit itself, this story is featured:

Exploring Exhibits: “We Are Not Quite All Treaty People Yet,” a presentation by Dr. Maureen Matthews

Today I was lucky enough to be able to attend a lecture with my colleagues at the Canadian Museum Association, which was held at the Centre for Global Pluralism, and featured Dr. Maureen Matthews. Matthews is the curator of Ethnology at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg. In the talk, “We are not quite All Treaty People yet,” Matthews discussed the work she and the museum have done since her arrival there five years ago to not only improve the exhibits which discuss Indigenous people in Manitoba and Canada at the museum, but also the initiatives she has made in both the repatriation of Indigenous artifacts and fostering long-term, trusting and honest relationships with Indigenous communities in order to ensure that museums are telling stories for them, and not just about them.

Exploring Exhibits: “The Family Camera” at the Royal Ontario Museum

While I was visiting the Royal Ontario Museum, I was fortunate enough to be able to see an exhibit called “The Family Camera.” This was a special exhibit, which unfortunately has finished it’s run now, so if you didn’t get a chance to see it, I’m sorry to say that you really missed out.