For its “thoughtful, innovative and compelling exhibit” exhibition, “Huzza for Freedom! Political Cartoons from the War of 1812”, four Master of Museum Studies graduates will be presented with a group Youth Achievement Award at the annual Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Awards today.
The award recognizes individuals and groups who have made outstanding contributions to conserving Ontario’s heritage.
Oriana Duinker, Keely Bland, Kristie Nairn, and Hilary Walker, who graduated from the Faculty of Information in June 2014, selected and mounted the exhibit featuring political cartoons published during the War of 1812.
The exhibition ran at the Parliamentary Interpretive Centre (PIC) from April to August, 2014, and was supervised by the exhibition course instructor, Dr. Matthew (Matt) Brower.
“The award is an important acknowledgement of the value of the student’s work in putting together a fantastic exhibition exploring the country’s past,” Dr. Brower says. “It speaks to the significance to the work we do in the museum studies program, and the value of the partnerships we have forged to enable students to pursue these kinds of projects.”
The exhibition features 23 reproductions of cartoons created by historical cartoonists from Britain and America, as well as contemporary Canadian cartoonists.
A collaboration between the iSchool’s Museum Studies program and the Ontario Heritage Trust, the exhibit’s interpretive themes explored how political cartoons were used for spreading news, ridiculing and dehumanizing the enemy, and critiquing internal politics, while contemporary cartoons examined modern Canadian commemoration of the War of 1812, and drew a connection between past and present graphic satire.
Most poignantly, the cartoons featured historic graphic satire that critiqued and ridiculed wartime politics and figures on both sides of the Atlantic, allowing both American citizens and British subjects to exercise their democratic freedoms.
Keely, Hilary, Kristie, and Oriana offer their gratitude in a statement: “The exhibition Huzza for Freedom gave us the opportunity to develop professional skills and to work with historical cartoons that were entertaining, enlightening and still relevant to today’s discussion of democracy. As emerging museum professionals, beginning our careers in the heritage sector with this award is a true honour.”
Congratulations graduates!
Read more about the exhibit
