Museums on Late Blooms

Aga Khan Favourites

Sun, 07 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

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Museums are interesting places and this is true of Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum. In an earlier post, I shared images of the buildings showing the architectural layout and the Aga Khan Park. This post showcases some of my favourites from the collection. Above are some of the Korans that were on display. The Koran is the “Holy Book” for people who are Islamic. The word “Islam” is derived from the word meaning “peace” in Arabic. Islam is a religion revealed to mankind with the intention of presenting a peaceful life where the infinite compassion and mercy of God manifests on earth. God calls all people to live by the moral values He sets so that compassion, mercy, peace and love can be experienced all over the world. (www.goodnewsnetwork.org)

The Aga Khan Museum

Fri, 10 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Many of my friends have been to the Aga Khan Museum for concerts, lectures, and other events. They have also visited the collection there. All the reports I heard were good so I decided it was time for me to make the trek to Don Mills. I was curious to see what they were talking about. The location is out of Toronto’s city core but there would have been no space in the City for the concept to have been realized architecturally. It’s very impressive and I particularly like the Ismaili Centre which has the glass pyramid and I also like the beautiful, peaceful gardens around the site. The Ismaili Centre was not open for viewing the day I was there. I haven’t been doing collages very much lately but I am sharing some of the pictures I took there with you.

Leaving Slavery Behind

Tue, 09 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000

“I am where I am because of the bridges that I crossed. Sojourner Truth was a bridge. Harriet Tubman was a bridge. Ida B. Wells was a bridge. Madame C. J. Walker was a bridge. Fannie Lou Hamer was a bridge.” - Oprah Winfrey

It’s the birthright of every human being to be free. Slavery is one of the darkest marks on human history and we have to be grateful for its abolition. Black History Month is a time to remember just how far from those days we are today and of the outstanding achievements made by the descendants of those slaves. There are still barriers today but many bridges have been successfully crossed by many people. Hurrah for Black History Month!

Canada Day Reflections

Mon, 30 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_1974” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] “Today Canada is the most multicultural country in the world, and the home of immigrants of every ethnic and religious group from every country in the world. But less than 500 years ago, the only people living in Canada were the Aboriginal people of Canada. “Aboriginal” means the original inhabitants, the people who were here first. The words “Native” or “Indigenous” are also used, and mean the same thing. Today they all collectively refer to themselves as the First Nations or First Peoples of Canada. However, there are many different cultural groups.” (First Nations Website)[/caption]

The Gardiner Museum

Tue, 24 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_1951” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] “And there are many ways to love clay.” (Kevin Browne, Executive Director & CEO)[/caption]

The Gardiner Museum is 30 years old this year. My very first visit was for Doors Open which took place in Toronto on May 24th and 25th. It was fascinating to visit as I had heard so much about the collection from friends. I wondered who the Gardiner’s were and this is what I found: “George Gardiner began collecting ceramics in 1976, initially to decorate his home. His interests were eclectic – Ancient Americas, 18th-century European, and Chinese – and his collections assumed significant dimensions. He was joined in this passion by his wife, Helen, a native of Kirkland Lake, Ont., who had studied at York University. In 1984 they co-founded the Gardiner Museum. The Gardiners’ hope, Helen later wrote, was that the Museum “would contribute in a meaningful way to the understanding and appreciation of ceramic art worldwide.”

ROM Revealed

Sat, 31 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“We know we are a species obsessed with itself and its own past and origins. We know we are capable of removing from the sanctuary of the earth shards and fragments, and gently placing them in museums. Great museums in great cities—the hallmarks of civilisation.” ~ Kathleen Jam

[caption id=“attachment_1888” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] A casual glance at crystals may lead to the idea that they were pure sports of nature, but this is simply an elegant way of declaring one’s ignorance. With a thoughtful examination of them, we discover laws of arrangement. With the help of these, calculation portrays and links up the observed results. How variable and at the same time how precise and regular are these laws! How simple they are ordinarily, without losing anything of their significance! The theory which has served to develop these laws is based entirely on a fact, whose existence has hitherto been vaguely discerned rather than demonstrated. This fact is that in all minerals which belong to the same species, these little solids, which are the crystal elements and which I call their integrant molecules, have an invariable form, in which the faces lie in the direction of the natural fracture surfaces corresponding to the mechanical division of the crystals. Their angles and dimensions are derived from calculations combined with observation. (Rene-Just Hauy - French Mineralogist)