Press Room

Museum Crime Goes Virtual

March 4, 2008 (Toronto, ON) - The graduating class of the Master of Museum Studies program in the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto is setting a precedent by launching a completely virtual exhibition.

Mischief & Malice: Crime in the Museum will present case studies in an innovative and progressive format to highlight acts of theft, vandalism, and forgery within museums and cultural heritage institutions.

Launching on April 2, 2008, at Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel, the exhibition will feature a keynote address by renowned Canadian archaeologist, Dr. Adam Sellen, and on April 3rd, a graduate student symposium for student panels and presentations.

Media are invited to attend the exhibition’s launch, which will begin at 6 pm at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, on April 2nd.

Situated under the rubric of authority, ownership, and law, the ambiguities of the students’ selected crimes inspired them to address, for example, to what extent issues related to the repatriation of museum collections are considered forms of theft; whether defacement or alteration of cultural property in the name of art, religion, or politics is always an act of vandalism; and whether appropriation of art is in fact forgery.

As museums begin to engage in postmodern practice, these issues are increasingly relevant – especially considering the growing challenges in defining who owns material culture and who has the right to interpret it.