McCord 2024: Costume Balls

Costume Balls:

Dressing Up History, 1870–1927

November 4, 2024 - March 9, 2025

Tthe Montreal’s McCord Stewart Museum with its new exhibition Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927 introduces the public to the world of fancy dress balls, some dating back 150 years.

The exhibition captures the splendour and extravagance of such events, with guests transforming themselves into a colourful array of characters for an evening. Over 40 dazzling costumes from the Museum’s collection, as well as photographs of costumed ball-goers, souvenir publications and programs, capture the scope and pageantry of those prestigious occasions.

Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927 opens its doors on the centenary of one of such grand balls that was held on November 14, 1924 at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal. This exhibition is presented by La Presse and in collaboration with LaSalle College Montréal, a member of LCI Education.

A focus on history

While ball-goers in search of ideas drew from many aspects of popular culture to choose their characters, the exhibition highlights the predominance of history as a source of inspiration. The many photographs featured in the exhibition reveal guests’ enthusiasm for embodying figures from Canada’s past at historically themed balls.

Immortalizing the event for a lifetime

A visit to the photographer’s studio was a must for those attending a fancy dress ball or skating carnival, so they could create lasting momentous of themselves in the costumes made for these often once-in-a-lifetime social events. Visitors to the exhibition will find many portraits made by William Notman of Montreal and William J. Topley of Ottawa, who ran the leading photo studios of the time.

Cynthia Cooper, the exhibition’s curator, stated:

“This exhibition tells an extraordinary story by bringing together some of the most extraordinary material in the Museum’s collections. Rarely do visitors get a chance to see so many garments from the 19th century (that survived in spite of being created to last a single evening) in an exhibition space, alongside images of the people who wore those costumes. And rarely do we see captured in photography such a lighthearted side of life from a time when public presentation of the self was a most serious matter.”  

Remarkable research project

The exhibition is the culmination of research into the practice of fancy dress, begun over 30 years ago by Cynthia Cooper, Head, Collections and Research and Curator, Dress, Fashion and Textiles, long before she joined the McCord Stewart Museum in 1998. Her work with the Museum’s extensive collections has enabled her to make some astonishing discoveries related to this topic, the latest of which are now being presented to the public for the first time in the exhibition and the catalogue.

Putting 40 costumes from the McCord Stewart Museum’s renowned Dress, Fashion and Textiles collection on display required a colossal effort from the Museum’s team. The limits of traditional conservation practice had to be pushed to allow all the costumes to be displayed, as Caterina Florio, Head, Conservation, explained:

“Given the fragile—or even damaged—condition of some garments, we took a long, hard look at the approaches we could take. This led us not only to question traditional conservation treatments, but also to make bold decisions and experiment with new ideas for preserving material integrity.” 

Andrew McNally, Dean of Fashion at LaSalle College stated

“While Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927  shines a spotlight on the extravagance of period costumes, students completing their studies in Costume specialization within the Fashion Design program will be given the opportunity to create contemporary designs inspired by the theme of the exhibition for presentation at a related Museum event. This unique collaboration between LaSalle College Montréal, a member of LCI Education, and the McCord Stewart Museum embodies the essence of tradition and innovation. The initiative not only emphasizes the historical legacy of the exhibition, it showcases how young designers are taking a creative, modern approach to passing on expertise.” 

The book Costume Balls: Dressing Up History, 1870–1927

Edited by Cynthia Cooper. Photographs by Laura Dumitriu.

Co-publishers: McCord Stewart Museum and 5 Continents Edition

288 pp., hardback, available in English and French versions

CAD $65.00

On sale at the Museum Boutique

Click on images to enlarge them.

All photos @ Nadia Slejskova

For more information about current exhibitions and special evens associated with this exhibition, visit the McCord Stewart Museum website.

MMFA 2024: UUMMAQUTIK-ESSENCE OF LIFE

UUMMAQUTIK: ESSENCE OF LIFE

ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ

A new presentation of the Montreal Museum of Fine Art's Inuit art collection

Starting on November 8, 2024

With this exhibition, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) invites the public to experience Inuit art in newly conceived premises. Shown in brightly lit renovated and modernized galleries totalling 200 m² on the ground floor of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik: essence of life doubles the Museum's exhibition space dedicated to Inuit art.

Conceived by Inuk artist and curator Asinnajaq, this new presentation of the Museum's Inuit art collection prompts the visitors to meditate on the rhythms of life particular to the circumpolar territories known together as Inuit Nunangat (Inuit homelands in Canada). It brings together works dating from 1949 to today that demonstrate richness and diversity in contemporary Inuit artistic expression.

Prioritizing a bold storytelling approach, this evolving display will be periodically updated over the next five years, allowing the public to admire a rotation of some 120 works by 70 Inuit artists from Nunavik, Nunavut, Nunatsiavut, and the Inuvialuit Nunangat. Many of the works are being presented at the Museum for the first time.

ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik: essence of life

This inaugural presentation of uummaqutik comprises 60 works from the MMFA's collection – prints, drawings, textile works, photographs, paintings, sculptures and installations – by artists such as Siku Allooloo, Darcie Bernhardt, Lucassie Echalook, Charlie Alakkariallak Inukpuk, Niap, Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, Joe Talirunili and Jessica Winters, not to mention the eye-popping motorbike sidecar by Mattiusi Iyaituk and Etienne Guay, on loan from Avataq Cultural Institute, as well as a selection of works that are promised gifts from Lois and Daniel Miller. Later on, the space will also feature works by Kudluajuk Ashoona, Shuvinai Ashoona, Annie Pootoogook and Johnny Pootoogook, among other renowned artists.

In addition, artist Couzyn van Heuvelen has created Qulliq (2024), the MMFA's second Indigenous art commission this year. This impressive glass sculpture, whose shape and title embody the qulliq oil lamp, widely used by Inuit, is also the artist's first work to enter the Museum collection.

The energy that unites living beings and transforms our universe

Through these artforms, artists share with visitors their views on the simple and at times extraordinary moments of life, including childbirth, child rearing, everyday activities and seasonal community work. Together, the works on view portray these moments as a sharing and transmission of energy between humans and all other living beings with whom they coexist, including the plants, stones and stars.

Click on images to enlarge them.

All photos @Nadia Slejskova

This article's dedicated internet address or also click on the title above the very first photo in this article.

Visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts website to check on the opening hours and to purchase your tickets online.