‘It made me aware of the different ways of approaching art’
Students and participants shared their experiences on Plural, a content-sharing platform created by Project Someone.
“It works like Instagram, but without likes, shares and comments,” Snider explains.
Ehsan Akbari, PhD student in art education, held a workshop called “Senses Remixed,” where participants developed sensory maps of museum spaces and shared them on Plural.
“This created a good conversation about how we can approach art and the senses,” Akbari says. “It made me aware of the different ways of approaching art appreciation.”
The “Embodying Resilience” workshop was hosted and organized by two creative arts therapies graduate students, Olivia Morson and Whitney Slipp. They asked participants to move through designated museum spaces with masks (physical and virtual), creating performative responses to artworks.
The third workshop, “Re-imagining MMFA,” was organized by communication studies graduate students Julien Younes and Dezy Nair. Participants collected sound in the museum and used mixing equipment and software to create audio art.
‘Catalysts for social progress’
Snider believes the workshops reflect integral themes of the Landscape of Hope project.
“There is this notion of decolonization in the reinterpretation of museum spaces like we did, because museums can be colonial spaces,” she says.
Bastien sees the themes of both projects as an expression of the shared mission of the university and the museum.
“Our two institutions are also connected through our shared humanist visions to be catalysts for social progress through ever-expanding projects,” he says.
“While we have a very strong affinity with the Faculty of Fine Arts, we also work with other faculties that use our collections, exhibitions and creative spaces from every possible angle.”
Find out more about Concordia’s Department of Art History and check out the Landscape of Hope project.