#ThrowbackThursday: The Finale

Posted: November 6, 2017 - 10:00 , by ROM
Categories: 
Art & Culture, Textiles & Fashion | Comments () | Comment

In September, 1971, the ROM opened the landmark exhibition Keep Me Warm One Night, a kaleidoscopic display of over 500 pieces of Canadian handweaving. It was the culmination of decades of pioneering research and collecting by the ROM curatorial powerhouse duo 'Burnham and Burnham’, aka Dorothy K. Burnham and Harold B. Burnham.

To kick off the one-year count down to the ROM’s conference, Cloth Cultures (November 10-12, 2017), which will commemorate Dorothy Burnham’s many legacies, and to mark Canada’s approaching 2017 Sesquicentennial, we will be posting bi-weekly excerpts from Dorothy’s journal of Keep Me Warm One Night. We hope you will enjoy this unofficial glimpse into the bygone days of the ROM, and into the pioneering days of textile studies.


Facsimile of a page from Burnham's journal. See transcript below.

Transcript:
The Costume area with overshot carpet on the floor

The clothes on the line were tied with nylon fishing line to look as though they were blowing in the breeze giving movement to an otherwise static area.

Facsimile of a page from Burnham's journal. See transcript below.

Transcript:
Linens, pattern books and some small equipment.

Facsimile of a page from Burnham's journal. See transcript below.

Transcript:
Horse blankets

The horses were cut out of plywood watching the plain pine woodwork and were very effective

Facsimile of a page from Burnham's journal. See transcript below.

Transcript:
Star & Diamond & other complex weaves

Facsimile of a page from Burnham's journal. See transcript below.

Transcript:
The original draft for the "Keep Me Warm One Night" and a large blow up of it on the wall beside it.

Small loom with "Keep Me Warm One Night" on it. The finale to the Exhibition.