Symposium
March 20 and 21 | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Costume Balls: The symposium
At the Museum + Online | Reservation required
This two-day event aims to bring together a wide range of approaches to the unparalleled material and visual legacy featured in the exhibition Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870-1927. The extensive historical record of the practice of dressing up assembled in the exhibition documents the minutia of lighthearted moments of life a century and more ago. Yet matters of far greater historical significance continue to be unsettled through the study of a phenomenon so ephemeral and seemingly inconsequential. What current questions have arisen from deep engagement with the material? How has that process opened up new methodological terrain?
The symposium will share new learning derived from the full spectrum of the process of creating the exhibition, from the slow curatorial process of identification and analysis of the extant garments and visual culture, through the subsequent rethinking of our objectives for conservation interventions, to addressing historical injustices in impersonations of Indigeneity. It will feature talks by the McCord Stewart Museum’s specialists but also curators, artists and authors whose recent projects have engaged with material from this archive. The programme will be rounded out by thematic exhibition and behind-the-scenes tours.
| ↓ Scroll down to discover the program for Day 1 and Day 2 |
Information
- Series of talks and tours presented on Thursday, March 20, and Friday, March 21, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Cocktail on Thursday, March 20 from 5 p.m.
- Registration required.
- Presentations in French or in English (with simultaneous translation online only).
- At the Museum (J. Armand Bombardier Theatre | $) and online ( Available on Zoom | Free).
- After the event, you will receive the recording by email to watch it later.
Admission fees
- At The Museum | In-person registration : $30 /day
- At The Museum | Members of the Museum, Students, Members of Indigenous communities: $25 /day
- Online | Registration: Free
Attend at the Museum or online
Register for both days to attend the full symposium.
Day 1 | At the Museum, thematic exhibition visits and behind-the-scenes tours
Day 2 | At the Museum
Preliminary program
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Day 1 | Thursday, March 20 |
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| 9 a.m. | Opening remarks (FR | EN) | Anne Eschapasse, President and Chief Executive Officer and Cynthia Cooper, Head, Collections and Research Curator, Dress, Fashion and Textiles |
| Session 1 – Incursions in the archive, moderated by Cynthia Cooper | ||
| 9:15 a.m. | Slow Research: The Unfolding of a Lifetime Project (EN) | Cynthia Cooper, Head, Collections and Research Curator, Dress, Fashion and Textiles |
| 10:15 a.m. | Coffee break | |
| 10:40 a.m. | Photographing Phantasmagoria (FR) | Zoë Tousignant, Curator, Photography |
| 11:20 a.m. | Through the Ground Glass: Reframing William James Topley (EN) | Rebecca Basciano, Curator, Ottawa Art Gallery and Chun Hua Catherine Dong, Artist |
| Noon | Lunch | |
| Session 2 – Thematic Visits of the exhibition | ||
| A series of visits of the exhibition and of our workspaces with our staff. Registration required. Pre-registration will follow upon registration to the symposium. |
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| 1:30 p.m. | Visits Part I (FR | EN) |
Visit starts every 15 minutes |
| 2:30 p.m. | Coffee break | |
| 3 p.m. | Visits Part II (FR | EN) |
Visit starts every 15 minutes |
| 4 p.m. | Panel discussion | Bringing the Exhibition to Life: Families, Digital Content and Photography (FR) | Moderated by François Vallée, Head, Exhibitions, Laura Dumitriu, Senior Photographer, Elysa Lachapelle, Project Manager, Education, Community Engagement and Cultural Programs and Stéphanie Poisson, Head, Digital Outreach, Collections and Exhibitions |
| 5 p.m. | Cocktail | |
| Day 2 | Friday, March 21 | ||
| 9 a.m. | Opening remarks (FR | EN) | Cynthia Cooper, Head, Collections and Research Curator, Dress, Fashion and Textiles |
| Session 3 – Building Knowledge Through Conservation, moderated by Caterina Florio, Head, Conservation | ||
| 9:10 a.m. | Refashioning Conservation Practices (EN) | Caterina Florio, Head, Conservation |
| 10 a.m. | After the Ball: How Archival Photographs Influenced the Conservation Treatment of Costumes (EN) | Sonia Kata, Conservator |
| 10:30 a.m. | Coffee break | |
| 10:50 a.m. | Dressing Up Mannequins, 2021 to 2024 (FR) | Caroline Bourgeois, Conservation Assistant |
| 11:30 a.m. | Reviving the Splendour of a Tudor Lady Costume: A Collaborative Approach to Conservation and Mount Making (EN) | Camille Lafrance, Former Junior Conservator and Amélia Desjardins, Former Conservation Technician |
| Noon | Lunch | |
| Session 4 – Dressing Up Colonial Violence, moderated by Jonathan Lainey | ||
| 1:30 p.m. | Impersonating Indigeneity: The Oppressor Dressing Up as the Opressed (FR) | Jonathan Lainey, Curator, Indigenous Cultures |
| 2:30 p.m. | Colouring Racist Tropes (EN) | Sara Serban, Conservator |
| 3 p.m. | Between Myth and Reality: The Story of a Headdress (FR) | Guislaine Lemay, Curator, Material Culture |
| 3:30 p.m. | Coffee break | |
| 3:50 p.m. | The Perfect Villain: Hayter Reed and Valley of the Birdtail (EN) | Jonathan Lainey, Curator, Indigenous Cultures, Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii), Andrew Stobo Sniderman, Co-authors, Valley of the Birdtail |
| 4:30 p.m. | Concluding remarks (FR | EN) | Cynthia Cooper, Head, Collections and Research Curator, Dress, Fashion and Textiles |
| 5 p.m. | End of the event | |
Exhibition
Until August 17
Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870-1927
A century and a half ago, extravagant costume balls and skating carnivals were the pinnacle of society entertainments, bringing forth a kaleidoscopic array of fanciful costumed characters. But, beneath all the anachronistic exuberance, these balls reinforced core myths of colonial destiny and imperial futures.
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