Loyola Chapel Exhibition Project

What makes a good historical exhibition? (Part 2)

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:15:00 -0500

For this second part of my series of posts exploring the above question, I want to focus more on the ability of a museum to be relevant in its subject matter, and participatory in its delivery of content.

One of my great inspirations when it comes to museum exhibitconceptualization and design is Nina Simon. I’ve read Nina’s book The Participatory Museum, and I’ve seen her speak very eloquently on the subject of involving audiences in both creating and critiquing museum content.The book is available to read online by clicking the image below:

Nina’s a great inspiration to me because she diverts the focus of museum practice from the researchers, designers, curators and conservators inside of the museum to the community members who make up an exhibition’s audience.

What makes a good historical exhibition? (Part 1)

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:45:00 -0500

I should start by saying that my own definition of curatorial excellence has varied over time. I used to think that museums, in particular historical museums, are all about the variety and quality of objects displayed. I now think that this is only part of the answer, and certainly not an essential piece of a great and really interesting exhibition. Take this photo:

Sure, it’s a great collection of antique telephones, including many examples from a variety of different periods, but my overall impression is a resounding meh. This is appropriate for an antique shop (and, incidentally, that is where I got the image), but it’s not appropriate for a museum. But why is that?

A good museum exhibition has at its core a central story to tell, and research questions that guide how and why the objects that are on display are presented. The key element in a museum exhibition is thus interpretation. I feel the greatest satisfaction when I visit exhibits that may not perhaps have the largest budgets or unfettered access to the most valuable and complete artifact collections in the world, but that are instead cohesive and tell a clear and comprehensible story. Rather than presenting ten telephones and providing a generic description of the invention and use of the telephone, tell me a bit about where this particular telephone came from, who used it, and why it was important to the owners. Relate that to a larger theme on the impact of technology on early twentieth century families, and then you’ve got a exhibit that I’ll tell my friends about. To put it succinctly, museum curators are better served by not simply asking the question WHAT (e.g. what is this, what is it made of, etc.,) but WHY? Why is it important? Why did people value it? Why are we including it in our story? When curators orientate themselves to the why, objects then become a means of illustrating a narrative and not the backbone of the exhibition.

There’s a lot that I could add to this, but I think I’ll leave it here for now, and address other issues central to exhibition planning in future posts. For the moment, though, what do you think makes a great museum exhibition? How do you think we can incorporate these priorities into our own Loyola Chapel Exhibition?

-Erin

When we listen to one another...

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:42:00 -0500

This past week has been an eventful one at the Loyola Chapel.

Last Tuesday, we had a team meeting with all of the Chapel Staff and many of our colleagues from Multi-Faith Chaplaincy and the Dean of Students’ Office. With all of our busy schedules, it’s been difficult to get together in such a way before now, and I think that the result was fantastic. It was a great opportunity to not only describe and explain our different Chapel Development initiatives, but also to get some valuable feedback from our peers. I’ve always found it amazing how, even when we think that we’re being innovative and creative with our projects, how beneficial and inspiring it is to hear other people’s perspectives and suggestions on how the project can be even better. I feel such gratitude to my friends and co-workers for taking the time to offer their advice and enthusiasm, and I know that with your help the Loyola Chapel Exhibition will be wonderful!

On the same note, the idea for this blog has been met with genuine excitement from everyone who has heard of it. I realized, though, that other than emailing me directly, there wasn’t any way to post feedback! I’ve rectified this problem, and you should be able to respond to my missives directly below the text itself. If you prefer not to have your comments made public, please email me at loyolachapelexpo@gmail.com.

This week I’ve also been thinking more about exactly what kind of exhibition we’re putting together. After talking to some community members and looking through some old archives, the ideas that have taken centre stage are unity, inclusivity and equity. Over and over again, I’ve heard stories and seen evidence of the tremendous public outreach and social justice initiatives undertaken by the Loyola Chapel Community. It seems to me that the Community prioritized openness and inclusivity of their pastoral initiatives, and that they were also very much attuned to need in the global community.

I’d be very interested to hear any other suggestions from readers about other interpretive directions I should consider. Please comment below, or email me at loyolachapelexpo@gmail.com.

-Erin

P.S. The Chapel hosted a marvelous Craft Fair this past weekend (November 4 & 5). I’ll try to post some pictures as soon as I can. All in all, it was not only a great opportunity to buy some early holiday gifts, but also a timely reminder of how the Chapel is a focal point in the community, and a space that brings together people from diverse backgrounds. Congratulations to the participants, and also to Helen, the Chapel Administrator, for putting together such a great event!

Loyola Chapel, Montreal QC. Date unknown.

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:52:09 -0400

Loyola Chapel, Montreal QC. Date unknown.

The thrill of discovery

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:50:00 -0400

Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.

- First Nations Proverb

I’m currently the Curatorial Assistant at the Loyola Chapel Development Project, located in the Montreal neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce at Concordia University’s Loyola Campus. This space has a long tradition as a Roman Catholic parish in the West End of Montreal, and lies in a part of town that is in many ways planned around the campus of the old Loyola College. I came to this project with very little knowledge of the Chapel, other than that it was a Roman Catholic place of worship and that my partner’s parents had been married there in the mid-1980s. Since I’m not Catholic I hadn’t ever thought to enter the space, and I found myself aware of the Chapel only as a peripheral object as I wandered around the Loyola Campus to go to class, use the library, and catch the inter-campus shuttle.

I first heard of the changes in the Chapel’s vision through an email I received as a member of the Concordia Oral History Centre’s mailing list. According to this email, the Chapel was changing its orientation to become a multi-faith space with programming and activities intended to promote spiritual wholeness and artistic creativity. My interest was immediately piqued by an invitation from the Chapel’s administrative staff for someone to coordinate an oral history project to honour the Chapel’s history and heritage. As a public historian and museologist who is increasingly interested in the possibilities of oral history as a storytelling and narrative device, this seemed to be the ideal convergence of my interests.

I’m starting this blog with a couple of goals in mind. Firstly, I’m rather new to the roles and responsibilities of curatorship, and I want to share my experiences as I both struggle with challenges and celebrate small victories. Most of all, I want to share with my “thrill of discovery” as I hear stories and touch objects that are part of the Chapel’s history. Secondly, I am committed to the idea of shared authority, a central philosophical and methodological position of public and oral historians. To put it succinctly, this means breaking down some of the traditional roles and assumptions around curatorship, and to share responsibility for creative and archival processes with people not usually included in these activities. It means breaking down the walls between the people who create exhibitions and author historical interpretations, and the people who would traditionally receive and view them. It means adding new and traditionally underrepresented voices to public dialogues on history and memory. I find all of these ideas exciting and fundamentally democratic. But subscribing to an idea and then putting it into practice in one’s own life and/or work are drastically different things. This project is my testing ground.

I hope that you’ll join me on this journey of discovery, and that you’ll add your own voices to the discussion by commenting frequently and at length to my postings. I welcome all perspectives!

-Erin