ROM celebrates Black History Month with new exhibition and family programs
(Toronto, Ontario – Friday, January 22, 2010) In celebration of Black History Month, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) proudly presents Stitching Community: African Canadian Quilts from Southern Ontario, an exhibition that uses quilts made from 1848 to 1976 to explore the role of African Canadian women in reinforcing community ties in new and unfamiliar settings. The exhibition runs from January 30 to September 6, 2010, in the Wilson Canadian Heritage Exhibition Room of the Sigmund Samuel Gallery of Canada, and addresses the notion of developing social and familial ties through quilts while mainly focusing on the African Canadian community in North Buxton - a community whose foundation owes much to the freed slaves who settled in Canada, “the land of freedom.” The exhibition is comprised of artifacts loaned from the Buxton Museum and items from the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS), including quilts, photographs, tools of the trade, and a variety of black cloth dolls.
“This exhibition gives voice to the African Canadian community responsible for helping to shape our country’s history,” said Mark Engstrom, Deputy Director, Collections & Research, ROM. “We are pleased to present Stitching Community with the help of the Buxton Museum and the Ontario Black History Society to celebrate 2010’s Black History Month.”
Stitching Community begins the ROM’s celebration of Black History Month; however, the exhibition runs beyond the month of February, allowing for programming and public engagement until September 6, 2010.
The History of African Canadian Quilting in Southern Ontario
African Canadian quilting emerged in the decades preceding Confederation. Enslaved black women were tasked with spinning, weaving, and quilting on American plantations. When the first generation of fugitive slave women came to Canada in the 1840s, they brought with them the skills and talents they would later pass on to their children. This exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to discover and learn about the women who worked tirelessly in fields beside their husbands, or who settled in larger towns. These women left their stitch on the fabric of their communities - most notably North Buxton. This tradition remains vibrant today.
The village of North Buxton, near Chatham and Windsor, Ontario, is situated in what was once called the Elgin Settlement or, more commonly, the “Buxton Settlement.” The settlement began in 1849 when Reverend William King and the Elgin Association, with abolitionist principles, secured 9,000 acres for fugitive American slaves and any free blacks looking for opportunities to enjoy a better life. This seed community continued to grow and, at its peak, nearly 2,000 people lived in and around what is now named the most successful of all planned settlements for fugitive slaves. The majority of the village’s population today consists of descendants from some of the original North Buxton families. Stitching Community is a reminder of their past.
Quilting was not just a rural phenomenon- artifacts loaned to the exhibition from the OBHS suggest the relevance of this creative endeavour in urban settings and other parts of Canada as well.
About the Exhibition
Each of the exhibition’s artifacts explores the complex ways in which gender, class, ethnicity, religion and technology find expression in the textile arts, quilt making traditions, design and culture. Stitching Community includes three main sections that relate to the North Buxton story: The Arrival, a focus on quilt traditions and patterns, the women working behind-the-scenes, and the joys and sorrows of being wives and mothers in the 19th century; The Community, a focus on the evolution of community, the ‘quilting bees’ that brought women together, and the quilts that tell their stories and reflect history, culture and daily life in the early 20th century; and Coming Home, a historical account of quilting in recent years, since the 1960s, featuring current traditions using beadwork and cloth. A fourth section, entitled The African Canadian Stitching Community in Toronto, displays items loaned from the OBHS to demonstrate the importance of quilting in the urban setting of Toronto from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century.
Among the most significant artifacts are the Nine Patch Quilt and Floral Pattern Quilt. The Nine Patch Quilt from the Buxton Museum is the exhibition’s oldest artifact, dating back to 1848. It was pieced and quilted by one of the first enslaved black women taken to Canada by Reverend William King to be free. The Floral Pattern Quilt was crafted in the 1940s by Mary Howard of Toronto, a descendant of survivors of the Underground Railroad and mother of Wilbert Howard, the first black head of the United Church of Canada. Two quilts from New Brunswick are also included from the OBHS, giving the exhibition an even broader Canadian perspective.
A video component titled Talking About Quilts, based on interviews with quilt makers and quilt researchers is an additional exhibition highlight.
Black History Month at the ROM
In addition to the Stitching Community exhibition, which honours Black History Month, the ROM is hosting an array of cultural and educational events throughout February. These events include:
February 18: The Hanging of Angelique – Marie-Joseph Angelique, commonly known as Angelique, was the Canadian slave accused of starting the Montreal fire of 1734. This screening of the film Fire and Fury explores the mystery of the fire and the accusations. The screening runs from 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $18 for ROM members, $20 for non-members.
February 20: “I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land” Lecture – Award-winning author Karolyn Smardz Frost will bring to life the successful entrepreneurs Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, who escaped slavery and operated Toronto’s first taxi cab company in 1837, with this engaging presentation. The lecture runs from 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. and is included with Museum admission.
February 23: Dan Hill in Concert – Internationally renowned Canadian author and singer-songwriter will perform favourites with special guests Liz Rodrigues and Joe Sealy. Between his own hit singles, platinum albums, five Junos, a Grammy and countless ASCAP awards, his recording sales have exceeded 100 million. Following the event Dan Hill will be signing his book, I Am My Father’s Son (a memoir of love and forgiveness). The concert runs from 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Tickets are $26 for ROM members, $29 for non-members.
Throughout the month of February, the ROM’s casual family restaurant Food Studio Café offers special weekly meals that feature a variety of cultural flavours of the Caribbean, Northern Africa and Southern USA.
Other Information
Admission to Stitching Community: African Canadian Quilts from Southern Ontario is included with general Museum admission: Adults: $22; Students and Seniors with ID: $19; Children (4 to 14 years) $15; Children 3 and under are free. Half Price Friday Nights, presented by Sun Life Financial, take place from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. To book a group of ten or more, and for more information on private guided tours or group menus, please call ROM Group Sales at 416.586.5889 or email groupsales@rom.on.ca
For more information to register, please visit www.rom.on.ca, or call ROM Programs at 416.586.5797.