JoEllen Brydon Art
In 2006 I came upon a story based on an ethnic community history, about a “band of Gypsies” who arrived in Peterborough, Ontario in 1909 causing quite a stir. Guided by Professor Keith Walden, from the history department of Trent University, I developed an academic reading course to facilitate my research and examine Romani history and culture. I referenced the photographic images of the visit in the Bailsille Collection at the Peterborough Centennial Museum and Archives, as well as the extensive news coverage. I talked to people about their memories of “Gypsies”, and consulted throughout with Ronald Lee, Romani scholar, activist and natural born Roma.
I developed a large-scale installation comprised of a series of paintings and supportive sculptural elements including reproduction of the news coverage in to one paper which the gallery visitor could read sitting in a period parlour.
The exhibition illustrates the story of the Romani visit to Peterborough in 1909 and examines different perspectives to the narrative. I was awarded funding by the Ontario Arts Council and short listed for the K.M. Hunter award for this body of work. The show was first exhibited at the Art Gallery of Peterborough, invited by former director, Illi Maria Tamplin, and then toured Ontario.