From Streets to Playgrounds: Representing children in early 20th century Toronto (2017-18)
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) funded research project, From Streets to Playgrounds: Representing children in early 20th century Toronto (2013-2017) drew on the fields of social work, photography and archival scholarship. Our interdisciplinary research team included artists and scholars from within the fields of the social sciences, visual studies and fine art.
The exhibition was produced by: Adrienne Chambon, Bethany Good, Ernie Lightman (U of Toronto); Mary Anderson, Vid Ingelevics (Toronto Metropolitan University), Julia Winckler (U of Brighton, UK).
Working with archival documents dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the project explored a wider picture of the representation of children in public space at the time. In doing so, we looked at connected, transnational histories through a cultural framework and attempted to reconcile different viewpoints by working across historical spaces.
See videos at right: a video tour of an Arthur Goss playground photograph; an excerpt from an interview with Adrienne Chambon speaking about a favourite section of the exhibition.
