Blog # 43…March 2015
Art has the power to connect us with our past, whether by
images, words or music. Even the coolest young hipsters can get misty-eyed at
a photo of great grandparents in their wedding gear, a sewing machine that runs
by hand or a Glen Miller tune. The shadows of the past surround us, waiting to pull us back at the slightest reminder…well, some of us anyway.
My grandparents worked a small general farm when I was a
kid, I spent summers with a few cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, a couple of horses and even a goat.
Imagine how I enjoyed the Waterloo Regional
Museum
It used to be possible to see how things worked (and
sometimes understand too) and there’s an interesting form of artistic expression evolving that
shows us the components of machinery that used to be hand crafted. As our lives
become more complicated and many things are out of our control, there’s both art
and comfort in looking back at times that were more human in scale.
Recently, as part of its annual Winterfest, Hamilton
honoured its rich industrial history with On the Waterfront, a series of
installations that referenced the processing and manufacturing activities that had
gone on around the harbour, close to transportation on the Great Lakes
The use of children for jobs in factories was whimsically evoked
by Carey Jermigan and Julia Campbell Such near where the Gartshore and Cowie
Iron Works operated from 1870 to 1904. Wooden patterns were made there, then used to make molds for the metal gears and other parts that drove machines. Stories from the workers who built a monumental
steam powered pump there formed the basis for their piece…many
of the workers were children, small enough to crawl in and out to oil parts and retrieve lost bolts.
The small chairs at the top of the poles moved up and down with the turning of the gears, just as the children used to love to seesaw for fun on the pistons that ran the pump they helped to build.
No helicopter parents around to watch those shenanigans.
No helicopter parents around to watch those shenanigans.
I’ve recently fallen in love with Hamilton
and am looking forward to visiting a couple of museums that pay tribute to the
City’s working past. Used to be that as we got older we knew more about how things work, part of what’s called wisdom… now it rests in the hands of a few young dudes writing codes in southern California . At the Museum of
Steam Canada ’s
industrial revolution.
And the City’s pride in its industrial roots continues at
the Customs House that’s home to the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre. Stories of work and working life (good and bad old days) presented in this beautiful historic building give some context for the issues we're facing now. Working conditions are generally safer and wages are higher but the lack of enough decent work matching workers' skills has devastating economic and personal effects here and around the world. Knowing where we've been should guide where we're going. Watch for more about this after I've been to Hamilton again..
Thanks for the pics to Michael Fliess and John Bilodeau
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