Modern Literature & Culture Research Centre & Gallery

Threads of History: Repatriating Canadian World War II Quilts

Curated by Irene Gammel and Jason Wang

 

November 12 – 15, 2024
Toronto City Hall, Rotunda, 100 Queen Street West
 

This exhibition highlights a unique chapter in Canadian history during World War II. It features 20 quilts from the MLC Research Centre Archive at Toronto Metropolitan University, made by Canadians individually and in groups to help survivors during the London Blitz. These textiles not only visualize the craftsmanship of the women who created them but also reflect the resource shortages faced during wartime. Displayed for the first time, these quilts speak of the women’s dedication, patriotism, and ingenuity in response to wartime needs.

Among the highlights is the Toronto Signature Quilt, made in Toronto in response to the Blitz. Other quilts were knitted in blocks by children and assembled at night by their mothers. In 2023, surviving quilts were repatriated to Canada with accompanying oral histories, thanks to the Canadian Red Cross Quilt Research Group in the UK. The collection exhibited is the largest of its kind and is being studied by the TMU War Quilt Research Task Force.

 

 

The exhibition also includes hand-drawn sketches from the MLC War Quilt Research Task Force, highlighting unique features such as wear and tear.

This multidisciplinary project brings together students, faculty, and research associates from across Toronto Metropolitan University in partnership with the Office of Councillor Chris Moise.

Exhibition Opening Hours


Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

 

Opening Reception


Tuesday, November 12, 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Refreshments. All welcome. No charge.

 

Presenters

MLC Research Centre, Toronto Metropolitan University

Office of Councillor Chris Moise, City of Toronto

Supporters

Office of the Provost and Vice President Academic, TMU

Office of the Dean of Arts, TMU

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada  


MLCRC, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

The Great War in Literature and Visual Culture

MLC Themes

The Great War in Literature and Visual Culture

Amid the unprecedented social change of World War I, women renegotiated their identities by dramatically changing the way they engaged with the arts. But how did they do so? And how did everyday citizens engage with the war?

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

MLC Themes

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven

Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, considered by many to be the mother of Dada, was a daringly innovative poet and an early creator of junk sculpture. “The Baroness” was best known for her sexually charged, often controversial performances.

Modernism in the World

MLC Themes

Modernism in the World

Recent research has departed from the Euro-centric and national view of Modernism to include approaches and methods studying Modernism across national boundaries and across different art forms to include fashion, dance, performance, technology, and visual culture.

Lucy Maud Montgomery

MLC Themes

Lucy Maud Montgomery

L.M. Montgomery is perhaps Canada's most important literary export. She was prolific writer of over 500 short stories and poems, and twenty novels, including the beloved Anne of Green Gables.

Canadian Modernism

MLC Themes

Canadian Modernism

The works of numerous Canadian authors who lived during the modernist era may well constitute the most central and experimental articulation of Canadian modernism in prose, allowing authors to stage cross-cultural, controversial, and even conflicted identities.

Modernist Biography and Life Writing

MLC Themes

Modernist Biography and Life Writing

Life writing, including autobiographical accounts, diaries, letters and testimonials written or told by women and men whose political, literary or philosophical purposes are central to their lives, has become a standard tool for communication and the dissemination of information.