A Different Perspective on Canadian History: The Canadian Wing of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s New Design

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Sevcik
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Art History ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Canadian History ◽  
Art Gallery ◽  
Canadian Identity ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Canadian Art ◽  
Contemporary Perspective ◽  
Art Gallery Of Ontario

The issue of representation within the grand Canadian historical narrative is a topic that re‐opens previous notions about the accepted version of the Art Historical canon. While there are many aspects of Canadian Art History that are celebrated as true notions of national identity, there are many indigenous groups and ideas that do not meet the criteria to be included in the canon and are thus, not represented. This paper examines the contemporary Canadian Wing at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) and will focus on showing the changes made to the gallery and how this will help Canadians understand what it means to be Canadian. What is interesting about this newly renovated wing is that the curatorial staff has successfully managed to show Canadian history from a contemporary perspective. By choosing to recognize the importance of different aspects of Canadian history to the understanding of Canadian identity, the AGO takes old practices and turns them into new traditions.

scholarly journals Constructing ‘Canadians’: a discourse analysis of political constructions in the Discover Canada Citizenship Guide

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sangeetha Nagendran
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Canadian History ◽  
National History ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Canadian Identity ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
Specific Construction

Under Stephen Harper’s leadership, the Conservative government took active steps to maintain a particular Canadian identity. This notion is grounded in changes made to immigration policies and in Discover Canada, “where nation-specific definitions of citizenship” (Winter, 2014, p. 1) are outlined extensively. Discover Canada provides immigrants access to a specific construction of national history, while also highlighting Canada’s pride in its multiculturalism. Thus, when considering Discover Canada as a representation of Canada’s national identity, this MRP will interrogate the underlying discourses on which it is based by critically examining the guidebook. While the guidebook attempts to be inclusive—by including sections on ‘Aboriginal Peoples’ and ‘Diversity in Canada’— it paradoxically provides a romanticized vision of history that fails to recognize persisting social inequalities resulting from a deeply rooted history of colonialism and systemic racism. This problematic portrayal of Canadian history, identity and multiculturalism may significantly disservice immigrants who seek meaningful inclusion and representation in Canada. Key words: Political constructions and representations; national identity; citizenship; racialized immigrants and minorities; multiculturalism.

scholarly journals Constructing ‘Canadians’: a discourse analysis of political constructions in the Discover Canada Citizenship Guide

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sangeetha Nagendran
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Canadian History ◽  
National History ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Canadian Identity ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
Specific Construction

Under Stephen Harper’s leadership, the Conservative government took active steps to maintain a particular Canadian identity. This notion is grounded in changes made to immigration policies and in Discover Canada, “where nation-specific definitions of citizenship” (Winter, 2014, p. 1) are outlined extensively. Discover Canada provides immigrants access to a specific construction of national history, while also highlighting Canada’s pride in its multiculturalism. Thus, when considering Discover Canada as a representation of Canada’s national identity, this MRP will interrogate the underlying discourses on which it is based by critically examining the guidebook. While the guidebook attempts to be inclusive—by including sections on ‘Aboriginal Peoples’ and ‘Diversity in Canada’— it paradoxically provides a romanticized vision of history that fails to recognize persisting social inequalities resulting from a deeply rooted history of colonialism and systemic racism. This problematic portrayal of Canadian history, identity and multiculturalism may significantly disservice immigrants who seek meaningful inclusion and representation in Canada. Key words: Political constructions and representations; national identity; citizenship; racialized immigrants and minorities; multiculturalism.

scholarly journals The Public Lives Of Private Family Albums : A Case Study In Collections And Exhibitions At The Art Gallery Of Ontario And Max Dean : Album

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Rigg
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Art Gallery ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Lives ◽  
Art Gallery Of Ontario ◽  
Critical Literature

This thesis uses Toronto artist Max Dean's performance A survey of the critical literature that addresses the placement of vernacular objects such as family albums and snapshots in the art gallery functions as a preamble to a series of interviews done with scholars, academics and curators in the fields of photography and art history. Drawing on the results of these interviews, this paper examines the challenges that arise when family albums are publicly displayed and exhibited. Terry Barrett's methodology of investigating the context of photographs is considered and applied to family albums and to Dean's

scholarly journals The Public Lives Of Private Family Albums : A Case Study In Collections And Exhibitions At The Art Gallery Of Ontario And Max Dean : Album

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Rigg
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Art Gallery ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Lives ◽  
Art Gallery Of Ontario ◽  
Critical Literature

This thesis uses Toronto artist Max Dean's performance A survey of the critical literature that addresses the placement of vernacular objects such as family albums and snapshots in the art gallery functions as a preamble to a series of interviews done with scholars, academics and curators in the fields of photography and art history. Drawing on the results of these interviews, this paper examines the challenges that arise when family albums are publicly displayed and exhibited. Terry Barrett's methodology of investigating the context of photographs is considered and applied to family albums and to Dean's

The tyranny of distance: art libraries in Canada

1983 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
Mary F. Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Public University ◽  
Art Gallery ◽  
Canadian Art ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
Art School

The history of art libraries in Canada, in the context of the development of the study of Canadian art history is explained. A brief description of the background and scope of important libraries in the categories public, university, architecture, art school, and art gallery and museum libraries is provided. This paper was delivered to the Section of Art Libraries at the 1982 IFLA Council in Montreal.

Ein Pilger auf Wanderschaft: Europäische Wirkungen von Adam Mickiewiczs romantischem Messianismus

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-342
Author(s):  
ALFRED GALL
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
European Context ◽  
Nationale Identität

Abstract Der Aufsatz geht der europäischen Wirkung von Adam Mickiewiczs Traktat Die Bücher des polnischen Volkes und der polnischen Pilgerschaft (1832) nach. Im Fokus stehen ein slowakischer – L’udovít Štúr – und ein mit der Ukraine verbundener Autor – Nikolaj (Mykola) Kostomarov –, die beide Mickiewiczs sakralisierende Geschichtsbetrachtung neu kontextualisieren. Untersucht wird die Konstruktion eines nationale Identität stiftenden Geschichtsnarrativs und die dabei angewandte Begrifflichkeit der Pilgerschaft.The paper examines the influence of Adam Mickiewicz’s treatise The Books and the Pilgrimage of the Polish Nation (1832) in a European context. The focus rests on a Slowak writer - L’udovít Štúr – and an author with an Ukrainian background – Nikolaj (Mykola) Kostomarov –, both of which are contextualizing Mickiewicz’s sacralisation of historiography in a new way. The article highlights the construction of national identity within a historical narrative and the applied vocabulary of pilgrimage.

scholarly journals Private collection & public exhibition: the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Responding to Photography

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kavanagh
Keyword(s):  
Art Gallery ◽  
Original Photography ◽  
Private Collection ◽  
The Status ◽  
Historical Relationship ◽  
Art Gallery Of Ontario ◽  
Public Exhibition

This paper is a detailed description and analysis of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s 1984 exhibition Responding to Photography: Selected Works from Private Toronto Collections. One of the first original photography exhibitions organized by the gallery and Maia-Mari Sutnik, the 156 works were drawn entirely from private Toronto collections. The exhibition would come to shape the collecting policy of the photography collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario and set it apart from other institutions across Canada. The selected works represented a generalist collecting philosophy (influenced by Sam Wagstaff) that included photographs by anonymous makers and those made for purposes other than art. Through an analysis of the institution’s historical relationship with photography as well as the context in which the show was developed, this paper proposes that Sutnik’s exhibition is a significant historic marker and indicative of the status of photography in Toronto during the 1980s, a time of increased international prominence for the medium.

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