{"id":51828,"date":"2025-03-18T09:40:24","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T13:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/?post_type=cu_story&p=51828"},"modified":"2025-03-18T09:41:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T13:41:22","slug":"thinking-through-the-museum","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/story\/thinking-through-the-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking Through the Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Thinking Through the Museum\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

By Emily Putnam<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confronting difficult histories in museums requires more than just presenting facts\u2014it demands collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the development of “new museology” approaches have reframed visitors as active participants in meaning-making rather than passive consumers, a gap remains between this ideal and actual practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Thinking Through the Museum<\/em> (TTTM)<\/a> project positions itself within this gap, creating concrete networks and resources to help museums, scholars, and communities engage with histories that challenge traditional narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Led by a team of curators, scholars, and museum professionals, TTTM seeks to build research capacity through international and local partnerships, collaboration, and innovative technological tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With its most recent gathering held in Ottawa in October 2024, the 4-day workshop hosted 50 participants and brought together museum practitioners, academics, and students from around the world to explore best practices for presenting difficult knowledge in public spaces like museums, memorial sites, and cultural heritage tours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Michelle McGeough (M\u00e9tis\/Cree), Asst. Professor of Art History, Concordia University shares insights from her 2-Spirit Indigiqueer Emerging Curators Workshop in Victoria, BC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Monica Eileen Patterson<\/a>, a founding member of TTTM, Assistant Director of Curatorial Studies<\/a> and Associate Professor in the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies<\/a> at Carleton, played a key role in organizing this year\u2019s workshop called Intersections in Critical Curating<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For this workshop, my goal was to create dialogue and have first-hand experiences. We had a lot of site visits, met with different leaders in the museum and arts scene, and most exciting for me\u2014we included young people in the program!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gathering provided an opportunity for participants to tour exhibitions at the Canadian Museum of History<\/a>, the Ottawa Art Gallery<\/a>, and Carleton University Art Gallery<\/a> (CUAG).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Being able to meet in person on a yearly basis is a crucial part of collaboration, learning, and innovation,” saya Patterson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patterson is particularly invested in what she calls “<\/a>Children\u2019s Museology”\u2014<\/a> an emerging field that advocates for children to be active contributors to museum exhibitions rather than just learners or spectators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She and Rebecca Friend<\/a>, a Curatorial Studies (CURA)<\/a> alum, PhD candidate in Public History<\/a>, and co-organizer, speaker, and facilitator of the workshop and TTTM Emerging Scholar and Practitioner Representative, co-taught a mini-course at Carleton where young participants curated their own exhibitions, showcasing how children can bring unique and innovative perspectives to museum spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n

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“Museums have tended to see children mainly as learners in need of education, entertainment, and containment, rather than as valuable contributors and collaborators,” Patterson notes. “I want to change that,”\u00a0says Patterson.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Visiting Noel Lloyd Pinay of Peepeekisis First Nation in Saskatchewan’s National Aboriginal Veterans Association Monument in Confederation Park, Ottawa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Decolonization and Representation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a Curator (Indigenous Histories and Contemporary Cultures, North) at the Canadian Museum of History, Sonya Gray used the workshop to introduce an Indigenous methodology that \u201cquiets down colonial logics that threaten to objectify or disassociate narratives of Indigenous survivance, histories, and knowledges.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray\u2019s workshop, called Creating Listeners through Conflict: Stanley Hunt\u2019s Residential School Memorial Monument<\/em>, explored how \u201ccreating listeners goes beyond giving and receiving messages.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of passively absorbing history, participants were encouraged to reflect on their roles, memories, and learned histories, ultimately fostering the possibility of collaborative futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Curatorial Studies and Canadian Studies MA student Keisha Cuffie discusses Black Canadian history in the heritage sector.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She says the workshop helped participants develop “listening skills that foster relationality, a way of hearing what they see and using their emotional response to promote behavioral changes.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray emphasized the importance of storytelling as a practice that institutions must engage in alongside the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cStorytelling as ceremony is an encounter of bringing people together in collective participation, of practicing reciprocal responsibility, of imagining and thus, creating emergent futures \u2013 together.\u201d  <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The workshop also featured a panel discussion led by Inuk-Newfoundlander and Nunatsiavut Beneficiary Dr. Heather Igloliorte<\/a> on the topic of decolonizing museums in comparative contexts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CURA<\/a>\u00a0and Canadian Studies<\/a> MA student Keisha Cuffie<\/a>, who acted as a participant and presenter at the workshop, reflected on the importance of systemic change in museums, particularly regarding Indigenous representation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“One of my favourite experiences during the Thinking Through the Museum<\/em> workshop was participating in the downtown Ottawa Indigenous Walking Tour<\/em> with Jamie Morse,” she shares. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tour provided valuable insights into Algonquin Anishinaabe culture and highlighted artworks like Chickadee Calls<\/em> in Confederation Park by artists Mairi and Claire Brascoup\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cree-M\u00e9tis educator, artist, and curator Jaime Morse leads group members on an Indigenous Walks tour of downtown Ottawa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cuffie also noted the importance of including youth insight, recalling insights from members of a group of Grade 8\u201310 students who presented a mini-exhibition on climate change during a Carleton University summer camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The students\u2019 perspectives emphasized the need for museums to listen more to young people. Their ideas are not only important but enlightening, reflecting their strong vested interest in the planet we all call home.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community and Collaboration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The TTTM workshop was not just about research and theory – it was also a space for building meaningful connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca Friend, a core member of the organizing committee alongside project coordinator Alex Robichaud, emphasized the significance of informal moments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thinking through the Museum Workshop participants in front of Cultural Mediations graduate Dr. Cara Tierney’s sculpture\u00a0they<\/em>\u00a0on display at the Ottawa Art Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Gathering at the end of a long day to share a meal while we reflected on the panels and activities was a great way to strengthen our relationships and shared commitments,” says Friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key takeaways from the event was the need to integrate children and youth more meaningfully into museum work. <\/p>\n\n\n

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“Young people are often overlooked when it comes to the inclusion of their diverse experiences in museum displays,” Friend explains. “Our cluster tries to call attention to what Dr. Monica Eileen Patterson has dubbed a new, critical children\u2019s museology\u2014a museology that\u2019s not just for and about children, but created with them too.” <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Looking Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the success of the Ottawa workshop, TTTM is now preparing for its next stop: Cape Town, South Africa. Patterson is eager to continue working with grassroots NGOs to elevate young voices in curatorial practices, particularly in relation to the legacies of colonialism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Taiwanese museum practitioner and incoming Curatorial Studies and Cultural Mediations PhD student Chun-Hui Wang leads attendees in an interactive workshop on Children’s Museology.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“This work helps forge a new critical field of Children\u2019s Museology,” she says. “It\u2019s about shifting the interactions from top-down approaches to more lateral collaborations with children as contributors.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ottawa gathering also reinforced Carleton University\u2019s role as a hub for critical curating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Carleton and Ottawa, more broadly, are incredibly rich sites for critical curating,” Patterson notes. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I have had the pleasure of engaging with and helping to build this network in my role as Assistant Director of Curatorial Studies, where I work to deepen relationships with museum practitioners and cultural institutions in the National Capital Region and beyond.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TTTM workshop was made possible through the generous support of principal investigator (Concordia) Professor Erica Lehrer<\/a>, a SSHRC Connections Grant<\/a> and a SSHRC Partnership Grant<\/a>\u00a0, along with funding from Carleton University\u2019s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS),<\/a> the Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG), the Canadian Museum of History, and the Ottawa Art Gallery.

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Emily Putnam Confronting difficult histories in museums requires more than just presenting facts\u2014it demands collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity. While the development of “new museology” approaches have reframed visitors as active participants in meaning-making rather than passive consumers, a gap remains between this ideal and actual practice.  The Thinking Through the Museum (TTTM) project positions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":51937,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[816,585,580],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-51828","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-general","cu_story_type-history","cu_story_type-interdisciplinary"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/51828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/51828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51939,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/51828\/revisions\/51939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=51828"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=51828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}