History Is Rarely Black or White

History Is Rarely Black or White examines cotton garments in the Queen’s University Collection of Canadian Dress at Agnes from the late 1700s to the early 1900s through archival research, artistic intervention, and scientific enquiry. By the mid-1800s, the cotton industry comprised a complex, transnational network of industrialization, commerce and violence. The global thirst for cotton made the oppression of marginalized communities systemic, forever affecting generations. 

Installation view of History Is Rarely Black or White. Photo: Paul Litherland