Modern Literature & Culture Research Centre & Gallery

It has been another exciting year for us here at the MLC, and as 2017 comes to a close, we can hardly believe how much has occurred over the past twelve months. In addition to our research and training, which we report on in the spring, we have hosted numerous events. From soirees at the AGO, creative writing workshops, and exhibitions galore, we invite you to join us as we reflect on our Top 10 community engagements of 2017.

1.

Florine Stettheimer’s Multimodal Modernism: Inaugural Symposium 2017

Scholars and artists from New York to York U joined the graduate students of Dr. Irene Gammel’s course “Florine Stettheimer’s New York Salon” in a riveting day of scholarly conversation and artistic presentations. See the photo gallery here.

 

2.

The Stettheimer Salon: A Soirée at the AGO

In conjunction with the Art Gallery of Ontario’s exhibition Florine Stettheimer: Painting Poetry, the MLC and Dr. Irene Gammel’s class hosted their own soirée at one of North America’s most prestigious art institutions. Take a peak at the afternoon’s performances here.

 

3.

Contested Lands: Canadiana at 150 Exhibition at the MLC Gallery

The MLC joined the #Canada150 conversation with our Contested Lands exhibition, which considered the themes of contestations involving Indigenous peoples, Canadian women and the Great War.

 

4.

Huge Numbers for Remembering the Real Winnie Exhibition in Winnipeg

Since the Winnie exhibition’s initial premiere at Ryerson in 2014, it has since found a new home at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, where it has already attracted over 20,000 visitors. Feel free to read the media highlights here.

 

5.

Modernist Salons Remixed: Considering Global Modernisms

To conclude her course “Modernist Literary Circles – A Cultural Approach,” Dr. Irene Gammel and her graduate students prepared an array of performances, salon games, soundscapes, and dioramas as an ode to salon culture around the world.

 

6.

The MLC Surrealism Writing Group with Dr. Mark Silverberg

The MLC’s Dr. Mark Silverberg has brought together a collective of writers to create poems in the Surrealist tradition of wordplay, automatism, and free writing. Read their first published poem here.

 

7.

PUBZ: Writing and Publishing Zone Gears Up for 2018

Led by the MLC’s own Dr. Esther Berry and Emma Dunn, PUBZ is an MLC peer-support group aimed to train the next generation of academics. They are currently looking for new members, so don’t miss out!

 

8.

Taking the Pissoir? An Art Mystery: Dr. Irene Gammel talks with the BBC

The most recent episode of BBC’s Punt PI explores the mystery behind Fountain, and Dr. Irene Gammel was invited to discuss the collaborative history of avant-garde art. Check out the full podcast here.

 

9.

The Work of Avant-Gardist Mina Loy achieves Long Overdue Recognition

The MLC is thrilled to be a part of the international advisory board for Mina Loy: Navigating the Avant-Garde, an interdisciplinary project that has been recognized with a 2017 National Endowment for the Humanities grant.

 

10.

The MLC Continues to Expand its Social Media Platforms

Find us on Facebook and Twitter for articles, photos and upcoming events—both in person and online—that explore Modernism, Avant-Garde, Dada, Surrealism and digital culture spanning from the 1880s to the 1940s! Thank you all for your inspiring online engagement!

 

Top 10 Selections by MLC Team (CM). 

Recent News

Gaurangi Batish joins MLC

Gaurangi Batish joins MLC

Gaurangi aspires to articulate the centre’s core values and vision through her contributions to the centre’s social media platforms.

Caitlin O’Keeffe joins MLC

Caitlin O’Keeffe joins MLC

At the MLC, Caitlin is excited to explore modernist women artists, the modernism archive and collection of modernist ephemera.

Cigdem Asatekin MacInnis joins MLC

Cigdem Asatekin MacInnis joins MLC

Cigdem joins the MLC and will be involved in research administration, exhibitions and events.

Amina Chaudhry joins MLC

Amina Chaudhry joins MLC

Amina assists Dr. Irene Gammel with her course ENG 710 Special Topics in Canadian Literature: Contemporary Life Writing.

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.