The Heart Of Afric Royal Ontario Museum Controversy

The 22,000 square-foot exhibition space contains more than 20 galleries. This museum showcases over 30,000 artifacts. The exhibitions are set up as a time traveling experience that takes visitors across hundreds of years and across the globe. The journey begins in Africa, the cradle of human life and continues on to the slave trade, and the contribution to African culture. In the end, the journey discloses with remarkable triumphs in medicine,

In this first-hand account, Blyden speaks directly to African American people encouraging them to embrace their Africa roots. He wants African Americans to feel a connection to Africa, as well as understand important information about Africa. In several places in this text he tries to dispel some myths that were commonly held in the 19th century, and even today. Myths like there was never any great society that existed in Africa, and Africa was completely uncivilized. However, even though Blyden dispelled many of these myths, he also played into them. He did this by stating that African Americans could go to Africa and help “furnish a development of civilization which this world has never seen” (201). He makes an argument that Africa is civilized, and

Strength as a community is one of the most powerful tools in the society we live in. As Canadians, we are proud of the rich history of breaking down barriers we hold with many diverse groups. As a nation – we serve to provide an exemplar to other nations about how Canadians embrace their unity and the demographics outlines by society do not create walls between Canadians. Through Black History month – we honor the sacrifices of the social minority groups who have continued to make an effort to become a part of Canadian society, and recognize the contributions these individuals have made towards our society. Since colonial times, this group of individuals have struggled to become recognized. African-Canadian history reveals the brutal injustices

In museums today various pieces are displayed in such a way as to show people that these pieces are what they are and to explain their original uses etc. In Paris for example, a new museum was built in 2006 called Quai Branly and it displayed a collection of Benin pieces including

European’s have had a dismissive attitude towards African’s accomplishments and activities. They 1) generally refused to allow the study of any knowledge that they do not control (Asante). 2) A number of white scholars tend to be limited in their interest to subjects that are valuable to the European project of self-glorification and triumphalism (Asante). Finally, to view Africa as a subject in history or as the starting place for an examination of anything is anathema to those who have always ignored the role of Africa (Asante). The Afrocentric school of thought has fought to combat these boundaries by giving the permission to investigate all aspects of Africa’s presence and involvement in the world.

On January 27th, 2015 I went to the Waterloo Regional Museum located in the city of Kitchener, Ontario. The museum scrutinizes the First Nations people, European settlement at the start of the 1800, the manufacturing peak of the 1900`s and the high sector boom of recent years. Many of the historical artifacts and paintings reminded me of some of the themes discussed in the Discovering the Humanities course. The story of human social development as displayed in the Waterloo Regional Museum focuses on the transition to European settlements. This gradual development can be connected to two main modules in the humanities course: the Iroquian creation story and the modern scientific advancement.

Canada is a multicultural nation whose population was vastly built through the immigration of peoples from around the world. The McCord Museum of Canadian History explores Canada’s multiculturalism through several exhibits. The museum was brought to life by David Ross McCord who wished to “shed light on the history and cultures of his country and thus bring its people together.” The Museum features several exhibits which are physically available at the museum, and some of which are available online. One of the online exhibits entitled Being Irish O’Quebec explores the impact in which Irish culture has had on the province of Quebec from past to present.

When we first entered the museum we were greeted by wax figured W.E.B Dubois and Carter G. Woodson who then leads us to exhibits to learn about the beauty of Africa and contradict the stereotypes produced by society and the media. Then we moved to the Middle Passage exhibit

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and roamed the Museum’s galleries, stealing thirteen works of art. The stolen works are valued at $500 million, which made the lottery the largest art theft in American history. There were 14 pieces of art that was stolen on the March 18, 1990. There is a reward of $5 million for information leading to the recovery of these works in good condition. No one has found out, it has been 25 years of theories as to what happened.

The Groups masterworks have a perseverance and impact that represent some aspect of the Canadian experience. However, it is important to remember that the Groups perspective was that of a white, liberal, nationalist who believes Canada is a vast and empty land, waiting to be occupied. In his lecture, Andrew Hunter emphasizes the importance of challenging the relevancy of the Groups work as well as brought to light the cultures and individuals these painters forgot or excluded from the Canadian image.

While creating a dialog of indigenous self representation and colonial responsibility, it can be challenging in the academic setting to fully grasp understandings and indigenous ways of knowing. Even as an identifying urban Mi'kmaw woman, I originally had difficulty wholly navigating through the various narratives explored through the Survey of Indigenous Arts' material. Often we are blinded by the ingrained colonial gaze and compounds brought about in our Eurocentric Canadian institutions; which decolonization and relearning trained perceptions about indigenous peoples, can be hard for both settler and Aboriginal peoples alike. Understanding that colonization has intergenerational and systematic impact on indigenous peoples, and that Traditional and Contempery art practice has been a key part of reclamation, healing, and resistance, can help create conversations visually and conceptually within our communities. While for over half a millennium since before the time of Canadian confederation, beginning at contact, early euro-Canadians created concepts of "Indianness" and "Authenticity". During the course of Survey of Indigenous

In a freezing class, two brilliant minds unlocked the fiery passion that is their talent one an artist the other a writer. Bringing to light a history long forgotten creating abstract thoughts arbitrary to our own. Komi Olaf the artist and Okey Ndibe the writer not only enlightening the class but also the world with each brush stroke and each word. Every creation stemming from the hands of these masters tell of issues at the heart of Africa from colonialism to existential dilemmas. Thru spoken word, hip-hop, art, music, poems and literature issues close at heart to the artists and to Africa are portrayed. This paper will focus on the art exhibit by Komi Olaf and Foreign Gods inc by Okey Ndibe as spoken by them during their discussion in the class on October 13th. Where the talks focused on the key course objectives being stereotypes, post-colonialism, youth culture, and resistance.

The term “secret handshake” is a specific gesture known between two parties; this connection is only meant to be understood by Canadians. Coupland’s exhibition investigates Canadian cultural identity by using imagery and objects that is symbolic to Canadians.2 The souvenirs that he has of Canada in this exhibition, reminds people about their complexity of their nation and its origins, something that is easily forgotten because multiculturalism/ pluralism overwrites/is more important than Canada’s unique history. Apart of this exhibition is the G7 Series, which appropriates many iconic works of The Group of Seven. Coupland chooses the Group of Seven to feature in his works because their representation of Canadian wilderness still shapes Canadians’ ideas about their homeland and about art, making them a national symbol. In his novel, Souvenir of Canada, Coupland writes, “they brought Canada alive… The paintings of the Group of Seven are like a code... a ‘secret handshake among Canadians,’ something meaningless to audiences outside the country.” (48) His G7 series, that is shown at the MOCCA exhibition includes: Harris Maligned Lake, Sampson-Matthews Variant, 2011., Harris No.11, Green Mountain, 2011., and Thomson Campfire, 2013. The series are based on degraded digital images of the Group of Seven most iconic works that were found on the internet. Coupland creates a geometric language through Adobe Photoshop to reduce the composition of these well-known landscapes into polygons, determining the hues based on his own colour sense.3 Coupland uses appropriation in a subtle way by titling the artist, and keeping the name of the painting, however he also includes ‘Sampson-Matthews Variant’ indicating an important time for Canadian art history. The Sampson-Matthews Silkscreens was a tool used by the

When you think of the history of black people, it’s often marred and overshadowed by slavery. It would seem as if four centuries of captivity had become the definitive status quo of a history of peoples that have existed for millennia. As an immigrant from Africa myself, I often find myself asking ‘Why is this chapter of our heritage the only story the world seems to know about us?’ As one of the most distributed race in the world, this limited lack of knowledge and misrepresentation regarding our history leads to many problems in how black youth view themselves. On the other hand, the various distribution black peoples resulted in their impact of various countries globally, and Canada wasn’t left untouched on the list.

“The Myth of Wild Africa” introduces one to the false, preconceived notion of Africa and Africa’s people that were around since the early 1900s. The book compares older, colonial methods of conservation that were coercive and based on the “myth”, and newer Afrocentric conservation efforts that are more objective and inclusive to the African people. The book emphasises that the inclusion of African people is what will make African conservation successful. In the past, Africa as considered an untouched paradise,