Royal Ontario Museum Blog
Monthly Archive: December
Exhibit A: Dior Dress
![Dior gown by John Galliano Red dress with white panels and black beaded designs](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/rom2012_12963_1.jpg?itok=A-XRH3BY)
“In a machine age, dressmaking is one of the last refuges of the human, the personal, the inimitable.”
— Christian Dior
Commissioned by the ROM, Passage #5 was designed by John Galliano for Christian Dior Haute Couture. This dramatic coat-dress was inspired by fashion illustrator René Gruau’s drawings from the 1940s and 1950s and is a 21st-century reworking of Dior’s 1947 New Look collection (his first).
A Story of Ghana: Exploring the Asafo Flags at the ROM
![Asafo Flag People holding up a handmade flag depicting birds.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/asafo_web_thumbnail1.jpg?itok=mNml_8oD)
Since the beginning of the month, the Royal Ontario Museum has been host to a stunning display of historic Ghanaian imagery, in the form of the flags used by the Asafo fighting groups to send messages to friends and enemies alike. These flags document many of the events and histories that were of value to the Fante states and are expressive, powerful, and of great importance to understanding the history of the region as we know it today. As a collection, they make up a fascinating display of aesthetic storytelling that reveals much, and gives each viewer a sense of what was important to each community under each flag at various points throughout each one's history, right up to the present day.
A Family's Gift Inspired by a Mother's Dedication
![Hans Wegner armchair A wooden chair with a black and white pattern cushion](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/rom2010_11505_1.jpg?itok=N4YMFPKU)
For the past 40 years, the ROM has been Barbara Chisholm’s main volunteer endeavour. She has guided thousands of visitors through the Museum, sharing her love of decorative arts and European history with the public, a delight to all those with the good fortune to experience her lively and engaging storytelling.
The LMS Lab
![LMS Lab Three women in a lab running DNA testing](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/lms_lab.jpg?itok=uYucw0Bm)
From discovering new species to preserving endangered ones, the ROM’s LMS uses genetic sequencing to study specimens.
Tattoos: Famously Inked
Tattooing has made a comeback as an emblem of choice and as an expression of one's identity in an ever more globalized world. It has acquired the status of an art form: tattooing has gravitated from the margins to the mainstream. From historical figures to modern celebrities, tattoos have spread throughout the ages. Bet you didn't realize these famous figures had tattoos...
1) Justin Trudeau
Profile: Canada's Astronaut
![Chris Hadfield in his astronaut suit A photograph of a man in an astronaut suit without a helmet](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/cah_-_nasa.jpg?itok=Zbp62Dn5)
Chris Hadfield sits down with ROM Magazine and talks space, dinos, and risk.
Tattoos: Today
![The tattoos of actor Angelina Jolie. Picture of actor Angelina Jolie in a blue dress showing her tattoos on her neck and shoulder](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/todayimage.jpg?itok=xpPmDbuP)
Although tattooing has deep roots across cultures and has spread globally, across several millennia, the Western perception of tattoos, the tattooist, and the tattooed has had connotations of deviance.
Were These Peruvian Mummies Climate Change Nomads?
Join the ROM team in the field in Peru
Tattoos: Arctic
![drawn picture of a woman dressed in fur in a snow hut surrounded by shelves of pots and antlers](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/interior_of_an_eskimaux_snow-hut2.jpg?itok=xNLzUHQj)
How tattoos are viewed in the Arctic communities.
The TRCA Calls Upon Batman for Help
![Dr. Burton Lim (left) and ROM Biodiversity's Nicole Richards (right) walk along the Scarborough Bluffs waterfront en route to one of the three bat detectors. Photo by Filip Szafirowski Dr. Burton Lim (left) and ROM Biodiversity's Nicole Richards (right) walk along the Scarborough Bluffs waterfront en route to one of the three bat detectors. Photo by Filip Szafirowski](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/filip_szafirowski_bats_burton_bluffs-2016_3.jpg?itok=UGHsclgN)
It’s been a hot summer, the sun is shining and the Scarborough Bluffs are standing tall above the Lake Ontario shoreline. But they might not be for long. The Scarborough Bluffs in Toronto’s east end are eroding at a rapid rate, increasing the likelihood of slope failure and damage to local species’ habitats. Although the cliffs have been eroding since the 1940s, the view from atop the Bluffs was too enticing to prevent people from further settling there. As houses were feverishly built along the Bluffs, the rate of erosion further accelerated.