Struggle and Story: Canada in Print. Exhibition and Catalogue by Pearce Carefoote. Toronto: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library [Printed by Coach House Press], 2017. 151 p., ill. SHARP News. 18 August 2017. (original) (raw)
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Curating a library exhibition, especially one marking an historic event like the sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederation, is much more than simply mounting a show. In many ways, it is the equivalent of writing an essay, although in physical form. The curator initially assembles items — manuscripts, printed books, and images — that provide the raw material for an argument. Out of that initial foraging and research, a theme emerges. The conversation that then takes place between “text” and initial ideas eventually leads to a tension of sorts, since the items selected both support and challenge the curator’s preconceived notions. As the process evolves, a thesis emerges which provides the unifying point around which the exhibition revolves. As a result, it is meant to offer an experience with which the viewer is invited to interact, agree, or disagree. The exhibition mounted at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in 2017, “Struggle and Story: Canada in Print,” had its origins in the...
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