Royal Ontario Museum – from the eyes of an art aficionado

By: Anum Jamal

It is a widely accepted notion that in order to understand the nature and spirit of a city or a country, one must observe its art and culture. That was one aspect that I followed while visiting different cities on my recent trip to Canada this December. The trip, although confined within the state of Ontario, still showcased the signature lifestyle of Canada. Even though this wasn’t my first trip there, yet this time I made a conscious effort to travel through the state by making the cities’ art galleries and museums as my stopovers.

Anum is a visual artist and a researcher, apart from working as an Assistant Professor at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVSAA), in Karachi. She has done her MA in Contemporary Arts from Coventry University, UK and her Bachelors in Fine Art from IVSAA, Karachi. Apart from making artworks, she loves to travel and pen down her experiences with the newly visited cities and its people.

One such memorable visit was to Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, Canada. The museum contains selected artworks, culture and history artefacts that visually paves the pathway of Canada aesthetics. It is the largest museum in Canada, housing over 6,000,000 works and historical items.

The magnificent Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton

Built in 1912, it was refurbished in the 1930s, after which the collection has been regularly updated. The original building has a quintessential Neo-Classical Architecture, however ROM got a De-Constructivist extension to its structure in 2007, which is a proof of this museum’s motive: to blend history with the contemporary and to unite the people under the lexicon of art and culture, regardless of their age, gender and cultural background.

One is greeted with a monumental skeleton of an actual dinosaur, which truly starts one’s ‘aesthetic adrenaline’, apart from Egyptian mummy sarcophagus and a section of an Ancient Chinese burial tomb placed adjacent to it.

The collection, as mentioned above, is a spectrum of different eras of history and the present. One is greeted with a monumental skeleton of an actual dinosaur, which truly starts one’s ‘aesthetic adrenaline’, apart from Egyptian mummy sarcophagus and a section of an Ancient Chinese burial tomb placed adjacent to it. Personally, this was an optimistic way of starting the tour, since it showcased a selected blend of what kind of elements I was about to witness. Some of the signature collections that were present include those under the sections of Islamic History, Ancient Egypt and Extinct Animals.

Some of the holy books were beautifully gilded in gold leaf and colour pigments made with semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli.

Quran-e-Pak showcased at the museum

The Islamic History collection was not only educational but also a positively overwhelming experience. It showcased historic pages from the Holy Quran, apart from statues and other such documentations from pre-Islamic polytheistic era. Some of the holy books were beautifully gilded in gold leaf and colour pigments made with semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli. This collection celebrates Islamic history and geometric aesthetics through calligraphy, painting and coinage, to name a few. It also has a wide range of armours used during the Caliphate and Mughal eras. Personally, it was a proud moment to see Ismail Gulgee’s painting as part of this collection at ROM, as it exhibits Pakistan’s legendary artist’s signature art style. It was truly a patriotic moment to be in presence of his work.

Ismail Gulgee’s piece at ROM

The Ancient Egypt collection was extremely intriguing, with an actual mummified body of an Egyptian Prince showcased in a glass box. Mummy cases from various eras of the Egyptian Dynasty are exhibited here, along with some utensils and fragments of garments worn by the Egyptians of that time. These items were excavated by the archaeologists at different times mainly over the course of 20^th century.

Example of calligraphy exhibited at the museum

Undoubtedly the Extinct Animals section was the most popular amongst families, especially children. It was the busiest space in ROM, with kids bustling excitedly from dinosaur skeleton to another. The most famous of the skeletons was that of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which had a photobooth adjacent to it for families to get pictures with it.

Remnants of the Egyptian civilization’s pyramid tombs.

Overall, not only was this visit personally educational, but also fun and I highly recommend the readers to visit Royal Ontario Museum if they are in Toronto. Do keep in mind that you should take out at least half a day for the visit so that you can enjoy the works and the place’s ambience. There is also an amazing café within its vicinity, which has healthy lunch options (perfect for a quick break from a long museum visit!