ROM welcomes Black History Month with quilt exhibit

JUSTIN SKINNER

February 2, 2010

The Royal Ontario Museum has lined up a series of events, anchored by a special exhibit, to celebrate Black History Month.

The exhibit, Stitching Community: African Canadian Quilts from Southern Ontario, will showcase the role of African-Canadian women from bygone days through quilts, dolls and other artifacts sewn between 1848 and 1976. It will also include photos and needlework tools from throughout the years, which have been generously loaned to the museum by the Ontario Black History Society and the Buxton Museum.

The quilts will serve to outline the way sewing together of fabric mirrored the sewing together of communities over the years.

During the time of U.S. slavery, black women were often given work spinning, weaving and doing needlework as men worked plantations. As more and more slaves made their way north to freedom, they retained those skills and passed them on to their children and grandchildren, a tradition still notable in some Canadian communities.

ROM spokesperson Mark Engstrom said the collection will highlight the role African-Canadians have played - and continue to play - in Canada over the years.

"This exhibition gives voice to the African-Canadian community responsible for helping to shape our country's history," he said. "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."

The exhibit will run to Sept. 6, 2010.

Later in February, the ROM will host three additional events to celebrate Black History Month:

On Thursday, Feb. 18, the museum will screen Fire and Fury, which examines the story of Marie-Joseph Angelique, the Canadian slave accused of starting the Montreal fire of 1734.

On Saturday, Feb. 20, award-winning author Karolyn Smardz-Frost will deliver a lecture based on the lives of Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, escaped slaves who came to Canada and started Toronto's first taxi company in 1837.

On Tuesday, Feb. 23, renowned singer Dan Hill, best known for his hit single 'Sometimes When We Touch', will perform at the ROM and sign copies of his memoir, I Am My Father's Son.

For more information on any of the events, visit www.rom.on.ca or call 416-586-8000.