Exhibitions, Research & Creative Projects
Epidemics in History, Literature & Art
An annotated bibliography of primary and secondary sources delineating the historical relationship between humans and epidemic disease and how it influenced literature and art. The study of epidemics help us understand politics, socio-economic structures, and personal relationships. Their outbreaks span across centuries and continents. From the earliest times to the present, epidemics have affected human history in myriad ways: demographically, culturally, politically, financially, and biologically. The earliest plague epidemics raised questions about human’s relations to God. Yellow fever led to the success of the Haitian revolution. Epidemics of cholera exposed how the Industrial Revolution created conditions for contagion to spread among workers and the poor. The global influenza epidemic of 1918–1920 led to an outpouring of altruism and self-sacrifice.
The bibliography includes the topics that have received the most attention from historians, artists, and writers: plague, cholera, influenza, smallpox, in addition to recent titles on the coronavirus pandemic.
History of Victoria University Library
An upcoming book on the history of Victoria University libraries, part of the University of Toronto. My current project, analyzes the library as a site of institutional memory. Charlotte Linde extends Pierre Nora’s influential exploration of ‘lieux de mémoire’ to argue that buildings and other spatially defined places are ‘sites of memory’ that contribute to the shaping of a coherent, institutional tradition and identity. Linde’s approach shifts the focus on the library from a repository of books and provider of academic services and study spaces to an institutional workplace with collective experiences and memories. Victoria librarians established both general and special collections, catalogued and classified books and other materials, curated exhibits, produced scholarly publications, provided leadership during strenuous and transformative times, and thus made distinct intellectual contributions to the institutional prestige of Victoria University.
Dominion of the North:
Canadian Literary Heritage at Victoria University Library
A celebration of prominent poets, authors, and historians. It comprises one hundred monographs, organized topically into eight collections. The monographs are drawn from the Canadiana collection of rare books, pamphlets, and periodicals. The collection is particularly strong in nineteenth and twentieth-century literature, poetry, and drama, mostly composed in English.
The scope of the exhibition was determined by the range of materials that are available in the Canadiana collection. The project was shaped by local considerations: our special and rare book collections and the institutional history of Victoria. My goal as a bibliographer and curator was to achieve an accurate representation of the Canadian poetic and literary canon, augmented by important works of non-fiction, including biographies, historical narratives, and political treatises.
Canadian Private Press
With exhibitions at five locations on the University of Toronto campus, the Canadian Fine Press Exhibit celebrated a wide range of letterpress publications, hand-printed ephemera, chapbooks, and other fine press design works to be found within the university’s special collections and libraries, highlighting the history of private presses and fine printing in Canada. Other participating libraries included John M. Kelly Library (St. Michael’s College), John W. Graham Library (Trinity College), Robertson Davies Library (Massey College), and Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. The materials on display at the E.J. Pratt Library were selected from the following rare book and special collections: William Blake, Canadiana, E.J. Pratt, and Laure Rièse.
University of Toronto Libraries at 125
The opening of the first University of Toronto library building on King’s College Circle in October 1892 marked the beginning of the modern library system as we know it.
This exhibition explores its history from 1892 to the present day. Items on display include photographs, library equipment, journals and books published under the auspices of the library system, catalogues of notable exhibitions curated by librarians, and books authored by librarians.
Mid Mod T.O.
A digital research project that aims to create awareness about the presence and state of mid-century, atomic-age architecture in Toronto. The demolition of the former Knob Hill Hotel and “Saving Suburbia, One Freaky Building at a Time” (a column penned by Dave LeBlanc for The Globe and Mail) inspired me to research several mid-century buildings in Toronto.
For the purposes of this project, I include any buildings or other structures constructed in the immediate postwar period (and beyond), from the 1950s to the late 1960s, and located within the boundaries of the City of Toronto and the surrounding former suburban municipalities of Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, and York.
Combining detailed historical and academic research with the appreciation for the style of the bygone decades, I examine the vernacular architecture of everyday life, both private and institutional, commercial and public. It is the built environment that is part of the existing suburban fabric and is often overlooked: houses, hotels, storefronts, malls, schools, libraries, movie theatres, gas stations and other structures with quirky and fanciful architectual details.
