Brad Copping and Anthia Barboutsis at the ROM

Canadian Modern

An exhibition of modern Canadian design at the Royal Ontario Museum. Gallery artists Brad Copping and Anthia Barboutsis will have works featured.

December 3, 2022 to July 30, 2023
Level 4, Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles and Costume

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Do you recognize Canadian design around you? Canada's modern design and craft movement has been a dynamic part of the country's narrative from the early 20th century right up to today. Step into the latest ROM-original exhibition and explore Canada's innovative and lasting contributions to modern design and craft.

From Clairtone's Project G stereo to Fluevog footwear, this exhibition showcases one hundred examples of culturally significant, limited-edition and mass-produced objects designed and crafted in Canada, and the stories of insight, experimentation, and innovation behind them.

Inspired by everything from pop culture and the Swinging Sixties to Canada's natural landscape and the Space Race, Canadian innovation was embraced by global markets, putting the country's designs on the world stage, where many of them continue to hold a place — and function — today.

Whether it's fashion, furniture, jewellery, electronics, or ceramics, each object tells a story — some new, some nostalgic — and this exhibition invites visitors to take a fresh look at these everyday objects. Designers including Alfred Sung, Michael Massie, Hugh Spencer, Jeremy Laing, Jeff Goodman, Karin Jones, Michael Fortune, and Daphne Odjig are represented. Interviews, advertising, and digital media in the exhibition provide greater context by highlighting vision, production, and functionality.

Canadian Modern places an important ROM collection front and centre, and offers an engaging lens through which to examine and appreciate Canada's unique place in the modern design and craft movement.

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