Art Gallery a leader in Holocaust-era provenance research

trevor.kenney — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 21:21:26 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Gallery will play a leadership role on a two-year project aimed at furthering Canadian efforts to build and disseminate Holocaust-era provenance information on Canadian public fine art collections.

With support from the Department of Canadian Heritage via its Museums Assistance Program, the Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization (CAMDO) embarked on the important project last spring. CAMDO’s Holocaust-era Provenance Research and Best-Practice Guidelines Project will develop best-practice guidelines that will empower Canadian institutions to understand and embrace their stewardship responsibilities in Holocaust-era provenance research, and to undertake their own research in the coming years.

Under the direction of CAMDO Past President and Board Member Dr. Josephine Mills, the research project will be led by Janet M. Brooke, provenance research specialist, and Nancy Karrels, research assistant, who will conduct site visits to examine relevant paintings and documentation, pursue their investigations in libraries and archives in Canada and abroad, and develop best practice guidelines for dissemination. Research results will be posted on a searchable database. Significant support is provided by the National Gallery of Canada through its sharing of office space and research resources.

“Canada’s art museums have long declared their will to pursue Holocaust-era provenance research,” says Mills, the director/curator of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Gallery. “But in the absence of resources and expertise on the ground, most have been unable to move forward. With this funding, CAMDO can now support its members in joining this crucial international research effort.”

In addition, the CAMDO project provides leadership, resources and expertise to six participating art museums to enable them to build and publish new research on European paintings in their collections that may have been part of the mass theft or forced sale of Jewish assets during the Nazi era. In pursuing these goals, CAMDO joins international research efforts to aid potential claimants worldwide in their pursuit of restitution and justice.

The six participating museums for the initiative are the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Windsor, McMaster Museum of Art, Royal Ontario Museum, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Gallery and Winnipeg Art Gallery.

The CAMDO project builds upon recommendations developed at the Canadian Symposium on Holocaust-era Cultural Property, organized by the Canadian Museums Association and the Canadian Jewish Congress in 2001, and on a CAMDO needs-assessment survey conducted in 2007. Both called upon the federal government for support of Holocaust-era provenance research.

CAMDO is a professional network of peers – directors of public Canadian art museums and galleries – that advances knowledge and expertise among its members, finds solutions to shared challenges and represents the sector on issues of national significance.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Gallery houses one of the most significant art collections in Canada. Numbering over 13,000 objects, the holdings include works from Canada, America and Europe, span the 19th and 20th centuries, and continue to grow with 21st century additions. Its major strength is the diversity of the collection, which not only represents a wide range of geographic locations, but also the full spectrum of media, artistic movements, genres and approaches.

The art of translation

trevor.kenney — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:19:43 +0000

What do you get when you cross a multiple scholarship winner with an Oxford graduate, Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Translation, senior analyst for the Canadian Privy Council Office, published author and an accomplished musician? You get one remarkable guy by the name of Blair McMurren (BA '96), who just happens to be the U of L's 2010 Alumnus of the Year.

Born and raised in Lethbridge, McMurren graduated from the U of L with Great Distinction, receiving the Faculty of Arts and Science Gold Medal and the Governor General's Silver Medal for Highest Undergraduate Class Standing. His pursuit of academia didn't stop there. McMurren was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and immediately went to Oxford ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ to pursue graduate studies.

Dr. Blair McMurren, at home in Ottawa.

An English major at the U of L, particularly fond of the works of James Joyce, McMurren focused his attention at Oxford on furthering his understanding of English literature. He earned an Honours BA in English language and literature, and went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in comparative literature as well as an MA in translation from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Surrey at Guildford.

Ask McMurren what he initially planned to do after completing his education, and he'll admit that he wasn't really sure.

"Some far-sighted senior officials with the federal public service came recruiting at Oxford, and they made a compelling pitch for returning to Canada and making a difference in public policy," he says. "The idea of working on a variety of key files and having some influence on what would be happening in my country resonated with me."

McMurren returned from the U.K. in 2002 to begin work with the Department of Canadian Heritage. He also helped to launch a government initiative that has since become the Recruitment of Policy Leaders program. Since 2009, McMurren has been a senior analyst with the Priorities and Planning secretariat at the Privy Council Office – the department that supports the Prime Minister and Cabinet in all policy and decision-making actions. He is the lead analyst responsible for briefing senior officials and engaging with federal departments on Cabinet decisions related to climate change, clean energy and the environment.

McMurren concedes that the connection between English literature, translation and public policy isn't obvious, but says that his academic background fostered intrigue for the work he does today.

"Closely examining James Joyce's approach to translation is where many things started to come together for me," says McMurren. "So much of human history comes to us through the lens of translation. Freud, Marx, the Bible, what have you – all history-shaping works, and all are translated. Joyce was obsessed with the concept of translation, which ultimately got me thinking about how cultural politics work, and how ideas and issues move from one cultural context to another. It's not a huge stretch from there to cultural policy, which is all about how you tell your story as a country. It's a complex task, and in Canada we do it bilingually and multiculturally, which makes it richer but even harder."

While McMurren intends to continue his career in public policy, he would also like to branch out, perhaps by teaching sessional courses at a university. He's also very keen to give back to the school where his illustrious career began.

"I'd like to help U of L students find out all that's available to them after they leave the university," he says. "This award is a very humbling thing. I'd like to offer my experience to students and perhaps do something to help bridge the famous policy/research divide. I think we all have an interest in getting a broader, better dialogue going about the issues facing Canadian society."

Call for Nominations

The Alumni Association is now accepting nominations for the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year and Alumni Honour Society awards.

To obtain a nomination form, contact Alumni Relations: e-mail alumni@uleth.ca or call toll free 1-866-552-2582.

The nomination deadline is Feb. 1, 2011.

For a look at the full issue of SAM in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - Department of Canadian Heritage

Art Gallery a leader in Holocaust-era provenance research

Related Topics

The art of translation

Related Topics