Two more museums – the Canadian Museum of History in the National Capital Region and the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria – are facing complaints about workplace equity. Le Droit, a French-language media outlet in Ottawa, reports an independent inquiry is looking into "serious" allegations of a toxic workplace that seem centred around Canadian Museum of History director Mark O'Neill. The museum said in a statement Monday that it has "a zero-tolerance policy" on workplace harassment and the matter has been turned over to independent investigator Michelle Flaherty, a former law professor at the University of Ottawa. A spokesperson for Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said in a statement Monday that the situation at the museum is of "great concern" as national museums "must hold themselves to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism." Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail is reporting that the Royal British Columbia Museum has hired a third-party investigator and a diversity inclusion consultant after a prominent Indigenous staff member resigned. Lucy Bell, who headed the First Nations department, cited examples of racist behaviour and called for a zero-tolerance policy for racism in a recent farewell speech to her colleagues. The news comes after an independent review last month found systemic racism at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.
Nathalie Bondil, the former director of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, is suing her ex-employer for $2 million over her sudden termination in July, CBC News reports. Her lawsuit, filed last week against the museum's board of directors, asks for $1 million in moral damages and $1 million in punitive damages. The document says the board's behaviour was "abusive" and says Bondil's "honour and reputation" have been damaged. The board has said Bondil was accused by employees of creating a toxic workplace environment at the museum.
Canadian artists are donating works to an online fundraiser for Beirut to help reconstruction after last month's devastating explosion. Bidding through To:Beirut continues until Sept. 25. "Proceeds will go towards reconstruction efforts in Beirut through trusted organizations," say Lebanese-Canadian organizers in Toronto. Works have been donated by Shazia Ahmad, Nour Bishouty, Ron Benner, Amanda Boulos, Chris Boyne, Sameer Farooq and Mirjam Linschooten, Francisco-Fernando Granados, Hailey Guzik, Jamelie Hassan, Serene Husni, Muriel Jaouich, Micah Lexier, Zinnia Naqvi, Idris Plum, Rebekah Reiko, Scott Rogers, Jayce Salloum and others.
Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson‘s Picking Up The Pieces: Residential School Memories and the Making of The Witness Blanket (Orca Book Publishers) is in the running for two book awards. It is a finalist in the $10,000 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction, part of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Award, which annually awards $175,000 in prizes in eight different categories. Picking Up the Pieces is also nominated for the $5,000 City of Victoria Butler Book Prize. Winners of both prizes will be announced this fall.
Saskatoon artist Alison Norlen has been named as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a top academic honour. Norlen, who teaches at the University of Saskatchewan, is known for large-scale architectonic drawings and sculptures that investigate cultural spectacle and has exhibited in 28 solo shows. Others named to the society include Blake Fitzpatrick, a documentary media expert at Ryerson University in Toronto; John Greyson, a video and film artist, at York University in Toronto; and Terry Mark, a digital media innovator at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. The society also named Natalie Loveless, a scholar of contemporary feminist art at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, to its College of New Scholars.
Two photography shows to open in October at the Art Gallery of Ontario include recently collected works by African-American artists Dawoud Bey, John Edmonds, Wardell Milan and Ming Smith, as well as Malian photographer Malick Sidibé. The gallery says the works are part of its "sustained investment in adding to the depth and diversity" of its photography collection. Originally planned as part of this year's Contact Photography Festival but postponed due to COVID-19, Documents, 1960s – 1970s and Dawoud Bey, John Edmonds and Wardell Milan, will run Oct. 31 to April 18.
Sources: Le Droit, Globe and Mail, CBC, To:Beirut, University of Victoria, Royal Society of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario
