The Great Purse Mystery

A friend of mine emailed me about a vintage purse given to her by her aunt (shown in the photos below).

She wasn't exactly sure why it had a strap running straight along the back. I hadn't seen anything like it myself. The big questions were how was it supposed to be held and what was the strap for?

After some looking around in my reference books I came across an example in a 1908 Sears Roebuck catalogue and an illustration on how to wear it (see bottom photo). It's apparently called a vanity purse and you slip your hand straight down with the palm of your hand facing the side of your body. Since I did not come across any photos like this on the Internet or references to "vanity purses" as Sears had referred to this style I thought I would share the reference (excuse the quality).

The vanity purse seems a bit awkward to carry which might be why we don't see this style anymore. Today we see the more common clutch purse for evening wear which you simply wrap your hand around and hold.







(1908 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue: A Treasured Replica from the Archives of History, Ed. Joseph J. Schroeder, Jr., published by Digest Books Inc. Northfield Illinois, 1969. Vanity purses listed on page 1000.)

Talk on Victorian Costume - Dec 10/09 London Ontario

This looks like fun and free:

Victorian Costume: Demonstration and Talk
Thursday, December 10, 7:30 pm
Lorraine Ivey Shuttleworth Community Gallery

After graduating from the Fashion Arts Program at Niagara College, Karen Harley dedicated 25 years to theatre, working in various venues such as the Stratford Festival and the Grand Theatre. She now teaches sewing, history of costume and textile science in the Fashion Design Program at Fanshawe College. Karen will speak about why people dressed the way they did in Victorian times, and will elaborate upon the styles, influences and attitudes of the era. She will display a collection of Victorian costumes from the Stratford Festival, and will show us what it took to get undressed as a woman in this period.

Admission: FREE

(Source: http://www.museumlondon.ca/d.aspx?s=/Programs_Events/Listen_Learn.htm)

Paper Dolls On Display Are More Than Just Child's Play

This weekend I went on a little road trip to Coopersville – a small city just outside of Grand Rapids. I stopped in to check out a paper doll display set up at the Coopersville Farm Museum. The display case housed what looked like close to 30 or so different paper dolls. The collection is on loan by Jan Harings a local person with a passion for collecting paper dolls. The exhibit is dedicated to a collecting friend of hers, Julie Cain, who recently passed away.

This small sample of her collection is definitely worth seeing. It brought be back as I had forgot how much I loved paper dolls as a little girl. From the display it's interesting to see how different paper dolls were throughout the 20th century. The variety of silhouettes of the paper dolls, some looking like little girls, others like women and the different illustration styles. Having studied clothing history I definitely have a new perception of paper dolls than I did when I was dressing my own Barbie paper dolls in the early 90s! The fashions worn by the dolls show high fashions of various decades and are a great source for tracing trends.

Here are some web links to information on the history of paper dolls:

-The OPDAG (The Original Paper Doll Artists' Guild), "History of Paper Dolls "by Judy M. Johnson

-The OPDAG "Potpourri of Paper Dolls," 2010 Paper Doll Convention Info in Kansas City, MO

-"The History and Charm of Paper Dolls" by Roma M. Welsh

The Coopersville Farm Museum is charming museum with a real community feel. The exhibits are anything from model trains, artwork to historic displays and were created by locals. They are pretty random which is not a bad thing! When you have visited as many museums as I have it’s enjoyable to be surprised when visiting a museum. Next time I go to Coopersville I hope to ride the train which is also run by volunteers - so many volunteers in this city - what a nice community!

The paper doll display is on at the Coopersville Farm Museum until October 24, 2009.

(Photos by me)

Mode en France

I haven't had much time lately to properly blog but I still come across fun stuff to share.

Check out this awesome video on fashion history! Don't you wish you were in it?

Not So Uniform Opinions On Nurses' Dress

The history of nursing uniforms is relevant today as we see some hospitals like the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children bringing back the nurses' uniform. Maybe not the typical starched white one with cap which might be the image that first pops into mind, but a more casual Roots brand one, intended so that nurses will be better identified in the hospital.

Of course, everyone doesn't agree that Roots, or uniforms in general are the best way to go as seen in the Toronto Star's Voice column last week. Some responses (from the LONG list of comments) to the uniform at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children included:

I am not really sure how these uniforms will work to distinguish the nurses from other members of the staff. There is nothing about them that says ‘nurse.’ They look like everyday clothes, and could be seen on anyone who enters the hospital.

What dress does say 'nurse' in this day and age? Since they were first worn in the nineteenth century, nursing uniforms often took on the silhouette of fashionable dress, though remained white and starched with the standard components (these were generally: the cap, bib, apron, dress, collar, cuffs). Does this Roots version suit the fashion trends of our period? I would argue yes, so much that the public is in fact worried that the nurses cannot be clearly identified. Maybe Roots should design a cap? That might do the trick!?

Some didn't like the idea of uniforms at all. Also, a doctors' clothing is mentioned which made me a little confused. Aren't we talking about nurses here?

Did Roots make a donation to the hospital and the kickback is to be the official supplier to the hospital? I care more about being cared for by staff that is qualified, not dressed trendily. A doctor could wear ripped jeans for all I care, if he can get or keep me healthy.

Other comments reflected what different styles of dress can mean to people from gaining the trust of patients to professionalism and dignity for those nurses who wore them:

These Roots creations look great if the people wearing them are off on a hiking field trip. They do not instill any amount of confidence in me if I were a patient.

The nursing profession has a long and glorious uniform tradition, which is daily being eroded by more and more hospitals dressing their nurses in polo shirts and scrubs, often making nurses indistinguishable from cleaners and domestic staff. I find this a tragedy, as a traditional uniform is smart, enables the nurse to be easily identified by patients and public and gives the nurse a certain dignity that you just cannot get from a polo shirt.

You know I love the language of dress!

Stay tuned for more. I suspect this won't be the end of the current debate on nurses' uniforms.

The Costume Institute's "Blogmode": A Unique Way to Engage with a Museum Collection

Every so often I check out the online exhibit Blogmode: Addressing Fashion presented by The Costume Institute. It closes soon by the way, so do check it out. It's such an excellent way for the public to engage with a museum collection. Every couple days they post a new garment and a short blurb about the item. It's then open for comments and some like this Jean Paul Gaultier gown get up to 60 comments or so - that's a whole lot of interaction. Comments range from the "GROSS…. I would hate to wear this" sort to those sharing their knowledge on the garments, posing thoughtful questions or even critiquing the "art". Great stuff. I might have to borrow this idea in the future. It's a fabulous idea for a small museum with limited resources wanting to have a presence on the web. Just sign up with Blogger and you have an online collections database!

When I posted this blog it didn't occur to me that there is an actual exhibit at The Costume Institute that accompanied the online version. Here is a tour of that show!

Thinking Outside the Box: Indigenous Digital Archives

First semester I spent a significant amount of time thinking and reading about the usefulness of digitization for Indigenous societies as a way to manage historic and cultural records. With an upcoming discussion in my Public History class on First Nations involvement in Canadian Museums, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my findings...

Indigenous archives have long been associated with colonization as a reflection of the alienation of knowledge, culture and physical property.1 Like museums, libraries and other cultural institutions, archives face spatial as well as cultural constraints in preserving Indigenous cultural materials, but they are also recognized as being powerful places which house valuable information that for Indigenous societies can help them to "reassert their rights and reclaim the past."2 In recent years, archives have joined communities and other cultural institutions to design new digital technologies to improve archives recognizing that the digital environment offers accessibility and platforms for collaboration which can provide a broader perspective of cultural collections. However, digital technologies, like these institutions, pose a new set of concerns for Indigenous groups and those caring for collections. Here I will take a brief look at three factors which should be considered when planning an Indigenous digital archives.

1.) Accessibility: ensuring that digitization is an appropriate way for communities to have access to their records, either through the Internet or shared computers at community centers.

Computer access for Indigenous communities varies across Canada. Statistically it has been looked it in the context of education, so mainly access has been provided to communities for uses in schools and community centers. Due to geography, some reserves, or more rural areas of the north however still have not been provided with Internet access. In these cases, efforts should be made to provide them with computers or digital surrogates. Telecommunications can offer the opportunity to share culture and history. The negative point remains, however, that Indigenous societies run the risk of being exploited if they do not have control over their involvement with technology which could result in further undermining cultural values rather than empowering. 3

2.) Recognizing that there are limitations to digitization which can be carried over from the physical archives, for example the quality of collections documentation.

The process of archives going "digital" has for many analysts been one that involves rethinking the space in which archives will be presented.4 What seems to be the key difference is that the the physical archive is displaced in favor of digitization which appears as a more ideal alternative which can transcend space and time. Everyday new Internet archives are appearing on the World Wide Web. Some believe that it is merely "old wine in new bottles?"5. Others feel that digitization can make information more available and allows for more dynamic interpretations of data than what is possible on paper. Hypertext for example offers what one historian has described as: "a non-linear narrative, a form that, by providing the reader with multiple links, presented choices that involved him or her in the process of interpretation."6 This is arguably more immediate than the interpretive linking that occurs in a physical archives.

Generally speaking though, an Internet archive must be "defined" before it comes into existence.7 Selection in this space has the power to shape historical memory, so understanding history and culture before presenting archival information on the Internet is vital. The example of Maori Land Court records management illustrates this point.8 This involved the digitization of historical materials that were considered tapu (meaning sacred and forbidden), so access should have only been made available to particular groups instead of being posted on the Internet. This further demonstrates that only Indigenous peoples can decide what approach is appropriate for digital media.

Archivists and historians have important roles to play in historical research and archival practices which are both key components in the creation of digital archives. Past systems of records management pose difficulties as seen in the example of maps, which have been described and understood differently throughout history. This is reflected in the ways they have been recorded and categorized in archives or within different archival institutions.9 For Indigenous peoples this could effect the research of land ownership or genealogy for instance. Answers to the questions: Who created the map? When was it created? When was it cataloged? Where/how was it acquired? help to determine the reliability of records. Challenges with archival practices are not limited to understanding old cataloging systems, but can also be seen in conservation issues whereby maps are too fragile to actually digitize due to their natural curvature or poor condition, making them unavailable digitally and thus, left out of the digital historical record. The limitations of this media are due to circumstances that exist within records management and have carried over into the "virtual" world. These examples demonstrate that physical archives and digital archives both offer very different experiences, but they are by no means completely independent from one another.

3.)Acknowledging that artifacts in their physical form have special meaning in society is important because although digitization can offer improvements in caring for cultural collections, it cannot always replace what objects symbolize in their physical form and the feelings they evoke.

Withers and Grout have stated that: "there remains an emotional and aesthetic relationship between the observer and the original object that the digital image-viewer relationship cannot replicate."10 However, it is possible that digitizing records can support the access, loans or repatriation which bring communities closer to cultural materials. The Indigenous Management Project(IMP) based out of the University of Queensland, Australia with the Museum of the American Indian explores this concept by"enable[ing] traditional owners to describe and conceptualize museum context in their own words and from their own perspectives."11 IMP highlights the possibilities of emerging grid technologies which provide a digital infrastructure that supports communication, collaboration and what the project has termed "digital repatriation" programs. Maori for example require strict privacy laws which the IMP project supports. Access can be maintained through tools, which enable traditional owners to define the specific rights requirements associated with digital objects, for example the tribe or gender. This new programming element is an extremely valuable asset for collections management. Also, IMP has proposed through a digital repatriation program to relocation digital versions back to a local repository because although gaining control over materials may be ideal, actually having the resources to physically care for them has posed problems.12

I could go on forever with this discussion - but I won't! From what I have outlined here though, it is possible to see that there are numerous considerations when designing ways to present and preserve history in digital form. There is a lot to be gained particularly from the collaborative possibilities that go along with computing. However, in a world increasingly shaped by non-Indigenous people and driven by differing value systems and forms of knowledge, it is in the best interest of Indigenous societies to control the degree to which they will participate in the digital medium.

For further information I recommend checking out these projects as well as the citations listed below:

Project Naming (2005-current) based out of Library and Archives Canada which involves the identification of photos dating back to the 1800s in Nunavut. Local youth were hired to take laptop computer with these images to visit elders from communities where the images originated. This project also aimed at strengthening the bond between elders and youth while tackling a major issue with digital accessibility.

Ara Irititja (‘stories from a long time ago’) is a community-based initiative in Australia. The software engineer’s instructions demonstrates the complex considerations for developing this archive. They were to create a database that handles different media, incorporates cultural restrictions, and is easy to use for an audience with limited literacy and often, failing eyesight.

1. Evelyn Wareham, "Our Own Identity, Our Own Taonga, Owr Own Self Coming Back': Indigenous Voices in New Zealand Record-Keeping" Archivaria, no. 52 (Fall 2001): 27.
2. Ibid., 26.
3. Cora J. Voyageur, Telecommunications, Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges, Journal of Distance Education, (2001) http://cade.athabascau.ca/vol16.1/voyageur.html (accessed Dec. 7, 2007).
4.Bernadine Dodge, "Places Apart: Archives in Dissolving Space and Time,"Archivaria, no. 44 (Fall, 1997, 118-131).
5.Lilly Koltun, "The Promise and Threat of Digital Options in an Archival Age,"Archivaria , no. 47 (Spring, 1999), 117.
6. Stephen Robertson, "Doing History in Hypertext," Journal for the Association of History and Computing, vol VII, no. 2 (Aug. 2004)
http://journals2.iranscience.net:800/mcel.pacificu.edu/mcel.pacificu.edu/JAHC/JAHCVII2/ARTICLES/robertson/robertson.html
(accessed December 4, 2007).
7.Koltum, "The Promise and Threat,"119.
8.Wareham, "Indigenous Voices," 41.
9.Charles W.J. Withers and Andrew Grout, "Creating a Digital Web-based Map Archive," Archivaria, no. 61 (Spring, 2006), 39.
10. Ibid., 45.
11.Jane Hunter, Ronald Schroeter, Beavan Koopman & Michael Henderson. "Using the Semantic Grid to Build Bridges between Museums and indigenous Communities,"
http://metadata.net/filmed/pub/GGF11_SemanticGrid.pdf (accessed Dec. 4, 2007),1.
12.Ibid.

Hot or Not : Dressing Up The Other Boleyn Girl

Just when you thought historic films were hard enough to review, The Other Boleyn Girl, based on the historical fiction book by Philippa Gregory comes to theaters. The book itself has had many criticisms in how it presents history, but by bringing this story to the big screen, a number of other problems are magnified from under the bright lights. These mainly involve costume and the value of aesthetic.

Historically speaking, costume in The Other Boleyn Girl, is the films strength. Hot or not, the designers captured some of the key fashion trends of the Tudor reign. If you look at contemporary paintings, one can see that primary sources were the basis for these designs. Although challenging to design and construct, generally speaking, the sources for costume designing are reliable.

Visual components like costume and set are typically used as a tool by filmmakers to create a more immediate sense of time and place. In this film, I worry that the power of costume and aesthetic has resulted in the slacking off in other areas that are equally important to the success of this film both as a presentation of history and a narrative.

My first problem was with time. There were way too many events and characters crammed into this short film. This illustrates one of the challenges of this medium. More time was necessary to get to know the characters and their motives to better construct the storyline. In my opinion, actors/writers, just like historians have the right to interpret history, but just like a historian, their authority (should) involve reading and researching a character to essentially make an argument about what this person was like.

Phillipa Gregory, author of The Other Boleyn Girl who was hired as the historical consultant for the film, was thrilled that Scarlett Johanson was so dedicated to the history of the character and read all of the Tudor novels Gregory had written. Having something to contextualize these novels such as an academic work would have been of great value. Lacking a good understanding of the historical interpretation resulted in characters which were dull and uninteresting. On a side note, I can't believe Cardinal Wolsey was hardly mentioned, meanwhile he was the one who had control over the state!

Continuity was another issue with the film. Mary was married before getting involved with King Henry. Whatever happened to her husband? In the end we don't know, he seems to have magically disappeared. After one night with Henry she was smitten and her husband quickly forgotten. Understanding the history would help filmmakers identify errors in continuity more effectively. Historical research could also be used as a tool to help them come up with creative ways to solve problems with the storyline that doesn't involved just a simple "cut."

So, I guess the lesson I would pass along to the filmmakers and actors would be, if they had dusted off their history textbooks and took some time to brush up on this period, several issues could have been avoided. I think there is too much worry that trying to be historically accurate can be a limitation for filmmakers. In the case of The Other Boleyn Girl, history could have improved the film's representation of the large number of complex characters and events that were important for telling this story.
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If your interested in experiencing Tudor and Victorian costume designing through a fun game check this out.

For a comparison I suggest watching the first season of The Tudors which is available online. It takes a different approach to the same history. Costumes in this show fall under the "hot" category and are less historical than The Other Boleyn Girl, but the characters are stronger. The season 2 premier is coming up on Mar. 30, 2008.

The pics in this blog are found on Tudor Dress: a portfolio of images.

Bringing A Sense of Space to the Discipline of History

While working on research for the upcoming exhibit A Sense of Space: The Blind Culture at the McIntosh Gallery, I experienced the divide between those who are visually impaired and fine arts (or visual arts). Similarly, this also exists with the discipline of history. Both are highly visual disciplines which require sight to read and interpret information. Unless this information has been transferred into audio format or Braille, fine arts and history are completely inaccessible to the visually impaired community.

In the A Sense of Space exhibit, artists move away from traditional museum standards and ways of exploring art mainly by allowing it to be touched (this has been a hot topic of discussion among my classmates). Imagine for instance exploring a famous Monet painting through touch and getting a sense of the artists' style by way of the feel of the brush strokes or following the lines of a classical Greek sculpture to identify the idealized silhouette from that period. This approach bridges a major gap.

But how many visually impaired people study history? I have not personally come across any! This bothers me, because just like exploring art, I know how exciting and rewarding the study of primary research can be and how vital it is to historical analysis. Also, our society does not always consider the issues that visually impaired face in academia such as having Braille sources available along with other tools such as magnifiers for reading. In the case of libraries, understanding that it can take longer for visually impaired patrons to read books, meaning they require longer loan periods is just one of the many practical details.

According to Student Development Services at University of Western Ontario, there are 5 students who are completely blind and many others who have different levels of visual impairment at the school. The university assists these students in a number of ways from having textbooks transcribed into Braille (which has to be planned a year in advance), proctoring examinations or providing access to adaptive computer technologies. Fortunately, popular screen readers for those with visual impairments such as JAWS (Job Access with Speech) appear to be more easily available than they once were.

Access to computers and the Internet has opened many doors. However, the same old story of the rapidly changing computer technology poses problems. For instance, although JAWS reads most PDF’s, some older versions are still inaccessible for tagging which is a great tool for visually impaired, so these require OCR. Refreshable Braille displays are another excellent tool for computer usage as they allow for the user to become familiar with the screen formatting through a machine that translates computer information into raised dots. It puts into words details like windows or sidebars which can get complicated with new types of computer programs. This is typically used along with a screen reader.

Although these systems will face challenges, there have been some great innovations in this field of communications and design which are providing the visually impaired with valuable tools of access. I predict we will see a new community of historians in the near future who will bring along with them dynamic ways of seeing and interpreting history. So let us keep up the digitizing and move over to make some space!

Interested in exploring new ways of seeing? Check out A Sense of Space: Blind Culture which runs from March 6-April 6 at the McIntosh Gallery located on the University of Western Ontario campus.

The Modern Museum: Caring for Collections and Cultures

In Museology class last week we discussed the issue of loaning museum objects to indigenous and special interest groups for important occasions, ceremonies or other specific uses. One student in our class questioned this suggesting that there was a risk that just anyone might decide they wanted to borrow museum objects (I think the example given was a classic Rolls Royce of which we would all enjoy taking a spin). Another student focused on the conservation problems, as it goes against what museums have traditionally stood for - collecting and caring for treasured historic materials for the future. I wanted to take the chance to discuss this further, as it is not a question that is only stumping our class, it's part of a much larger discussion on the role of the museum, specifically in the area of collecting.

While working at Puke Ariki caring for their European textile collection, I experienced how sensitive historic objects can be to physical risk. Textiles particularly require special care; cotton gloves are worn to prevent oil from damaging them over a long period, a temperature-controlled environment and handling considerations - often being carried on trays to not break the aging fibers. All this and more is important for the long-term preservation of the object. Museum conservator Miriam Clavir has explained this controversial loan activity as one of the biggest challenges facing conservators because many of them see objects as their "fundamental clients." Also, the idea that conservators see their role as being one that facilitates the long-term preservation of objects for future generations, not necessarily for current-day use.1 I would argue that a move from this direction is inevitable because museums are no longer viewed or exhibiting materials in the same context as they once were - places where history that is "over and done" is maintained. Museums contain materials that are living history; some artifacts are still central points of reference for particular groups of people and desired for usage.

I think the major issue here is that there has to be flexibility within the museum collection policy to make decisions on when this type of loan activity is appropriate. In New Zealand, Maori work much closer than indigenous peoples in Canada, mainly because the Waitangi Treaty has granted Maori ownership rights over their taonga (meaning all material and non-material, heirlooms, significant places and geneology). They are involved in the collections process and making these decisions, seeing it from both a conservation standpoint as well as the present-day needs. If museums deny people the right to objects that originated with them, most importantly the objects lose meaning or connection to their history and secondly, it is more than likely that the objects will be removed. Like the example of New Zealand, museums need to collaborate right from the beginning with indigenous and other groups who are looking to reconnect with their history and culture using objects. It's really just the way of the future and it's how museums do it that counts.

Source:
1. Miriam, Clavir, "Reflections on Changes in Museums and the Conservation of Collections from Indigenous Peoples," Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, vol. 35, no. 2 (Summer, 1996), pp99-107.

Notes on Images:
The image of the wood-carved face was taken while in New Zealand in the city of Wanganui. I can't remember if I took it or my friend Sarah Patterson (if so, thanks Sarah). It was located outside in a public space, I don't know anything about the provenance - but it's quite striking. If anything, for the sake of this discussion, it's an example of a carving that needs some serious conservation treatment or it will be damaged by the weather beyond repair.

The second image is of a Maori cloak. I came across this example on the Hallie Ford Museum website which I hope they won't mind me using. It was woven by Kahutoi Te Kanawa in 1989, an accomplished NZ weaver who has named the cloak Korowai: Nga Taonga Tuku Iho. It toured with the NZ museum exhibition, The Eternal Thread. Cloaks are of great interest to me not only because they require impressive traditional weaving techniques called whatu but like other types of taonga, it is believed that they embody ancestors. So one can see why it would be of interest to wear these as link to the past - we can relate to this connection as like having an ancestor at a wedding, graduation, celebration, etc. If they are restricted to only a museums use, their original purpose is lost.

MAY I PLEASE HAVE MY HISTORY BACK?

"Chinese antiquities at ROM under renewed scrutiny," published in the Globe and Mail on Saturday January 19 looks to the recently released book: "Cross Culture and Faith" written by Linfu Dong and published by the University of Toronto Press. It traces the story of the Chinese antiquities that were "secretly spirited out of China by a Canadian missionary" and further states that it "provoked mounting resentment in China, where many people are angry that foreign museums amassed fabulous collections by scooping up vast amounts of ancient Chinese treasure when the country was weakened by civil wars in the 1920s and 1930s."

The story of museums collecting international materials is a greatly contested issue with repatriation being considered at the forefront. Although the article explains that the Chinese government is not asking for the materials back, there has been a recent uproar among special interest groups to have these antiquities returned to their homeland.

The Globe and Mail has chosen to focus on the unethical manner in which the collection was formed. There are still other sides to this story that should be considered. Regardless of what, how or why these artifacts ended up at the ROM, the artifacts still have a history of their own and different perspectives should be acknowledged.

The first, which probably doesn't need to be explained in too much detail is that of the society in which the antiquities were removed from. It is clear that the loss can be deeply distressing as artifacts are part of China's history and were crafted by their society. Getting materials back where they can be managed and studied by the descendants of the makers can be a rewarding cultural experience which supports China's rich history.

Another side which should not to be forgotten is that of the ROM. This museum provides extensive information on it's collection and for many visitors interested in Asian history in Canada, access to a collection that has been well taken care of and researched since it was acquired in the 1930s is of great value. A 2001 study by Stats Canada "Chinese Canadians: Enriching the Cultural Mosaic" by Chu, Tran and Flanders has shown that Chinese Canadians make up the largest minority group in Canada with most residing in the Toronto and Vancouver areas. It might be worth asking Chinese Canadians if they would like to have more input in the future of this collection, afterall, this collection is a link to their homeland too.

Although it was highlighted in the article that some of the artifacts were "smuggled" out of China, history does work in mysterious ways, and the odds of these antiquities being destroyed during the Chinese civil war was possible. Sometimes, looking back, although decisions were made for reasons we might not presently agree with, they end up protecting important treasures that could have been lost forever. Maybe continuing to look ahead at the continued preservation of these materials is what is most important.

So, it is possible to see, that during a time when many are looking to museums and asking them: May I please have my history back? there are tough decisions to be made. But artifacts, like the museums that house them, do not have a static history. Museums are looking at new ways to connect their artifact collections to those who they originated with (and putting a great deal of funding into this area I might add). Digital repatriation projects are being used in countries like Australia and New Zealand, setting new standards for connecting indigenous societies to their material history. As well, the USA and Canada are offering exhibitions in collaboration with different cultural groups, offering them support to present their history. This leaves me to conclude with the other big question... are these efforts enough?

Is contemporary art an appropriate medium to explore history?

The Case of the Black Santa

The Black Santa by Canadian artist Léopold Foulem is an exaggerated caricature of a black Santa Claus in the form of a coffeepot. Its display caused a stir at the Saint Mary’s Art Gallery in Halifax last week when students demanded that the art to be removed from display due to its racist portrayal of blacks. The gallery curator Robin Metcalf has refused to remove the display stating: "It would be against our fundamental principles and our code of ethics as an art gallery to censor work and remove it from public display because some viewers object to them, however well considered their objections may be.”1

After getting a glimpse of this piece of art through recent coverage in the Halifax Herald, like the gallery’s curator, I read it as a reflection of the racist characterization of blacks at the turn of the century in North American popular culture, not an endorsement of it.2 I am not sure how important its form as a coffeepot is, as the artist who also had coverage in The Coast currently seems focused on having his medium of ceramic work viewed out of its functional form and into the setting of contemporary art. Whatever art form it takes, what is significant for the sake of this discussion is that it is a representation of a black stereotypical image that would be immediately recognizable to those living in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

After gathering photographs for an exhibition last year, I was struck by just how deeply rooted this concept of black iconography was. Blackness was associated with comedy and the silly portrayals of blacks in theatre, cartoons and especially advertising were a means of justifying the racism that had existed. The photos I uncovered while working at the museum were of children actors from what was called a blackface theatre troupe distinguished by their black painted faces and comedic Harlequin costumes. There were many different theatre groups portrayed in this collection of photos in a similar manner over the span of several decades. These powerful images stuck out in my mind as documenting an extreme form of racism. We rarely see visual depictions like these of racism from the perspective of their arbitrator. These popular images are our visual link into the psychology or mindset behind these very real constructs.

I am not sure that taking down this art is the solution. I think the Black Santa brings up valuable questions about our history. Firstly, can we learn anything from these contemporary interpretations of history? Would old photos, for instance the ones I discovered at the museum, alongside a detailed text panel which contextualizes the history be a more appropriate means to deliver a message about the racism that existed during this time period? A major issue for me is that these images still exist today and we often don’t even acknowledge or challenge them. Perhaps delivering them in the form of contemporary art will more successfully direct our attention to this history, just as the Black Santa has. Aunt Jemima is still on the cover of everyone’s favorite pancake syrup, an image which is a caricature of a nineteenth-century performer. Taking down a piece of art won’t erase this image, this history or the fact that it is still in circulation today. But it does seem to open up the door to discussion and further exploration of the subject or in the words of the artist on his ceramics,"[t]hey make you think!"3


1 Kelly Sheirs, "Black Santa offensive, student says" in The Halifax Herald, 10 Nov. 2007, http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/977694.html (accessed 10 Nov. 2007).
2 Ibid.
3. Mike Landry, "Hard copy", in The Coast, 1 Nov. 2007, http://www.thecoast.ca/119808.113118body.lasso?-token.folder=2007-11-01&-token.story=151032.113118&-token.subpub= (accessed 10 Nov. 2007).