RAM calls for artifacts of queer life
A trans man's first chest binder. A pair of platforms used in a drag performance. A Polaroid of a gaggle of lesbians at a queer dance party. All of these could be items that tell the story of queer history in Alberta, said Julia Rudko, assistant curator of daily life and leisure at the Royal Alberta Museum.
The museum is now seeking donations of items that reflect 2SLGBTQIA+ lives, both past and present, to address a gap in queer history.
Rudko told Taproot the museum is looking for both contemporary and historic items. "Often when we get a donation, it's someone who's clearing out a grandparent's attic, or it's something that they were given many years ago, and they don't necessarily have a story attached," Rudko said. "What's really exciting about the contemporary collecting aspect of that is, if I was collecting a piece from someone that they used recently, they remember the story. They can tell us about it, and we get a much better picture of what that artifact means both to them, but to the broader queer history that we're trying to tell."
Rudko said that, historically, queer people have been seen as less important. "Consciously or unconsciously, that means less of those histories are going to appear (in the museum). So it's our responsibility to the people here in Alberta — queer people, and the broader province — to tell the whole story, and that includes the queer stories," she said. "By collecting them now, we're hoping that, moving forward, we can always tell that full story, including queer people who've been here since time immemorial, and whose stories have been neglected and shouldn't be as we go forward."
The collection project is not related to the three anti-transgender bills that the provincial government recently passed, Rudko said. The legislation limits access for trans youth to gender-affirming care, bans trans women and girls from participating in women's sports, and requires parental consent for kids to use different pronouns at school. The Alberta government has also invoked the notwithstanding clause to protect the trio of laws from legal challenge.
The RAM's collection related to queer history currently includes a shirt from Bill Lee, a gay man who photographed many queer events in Edmonton in the 1990s and 2000s, and handmade buttons from Laura Lee (no relation to Bill Lee), a labour activist and lesbian. The collection also includes a hat that Edmonton's first openly gay city councillor, Michael Phair, wore to Cariwest, and a more recent acquisition of a hockey stick wrapped in Pride Tape, which was created in Edmonton in collaboration with now Senator Kris Wells.
Rudko said the donated objects hold a person's story. "It might not be something really grand. It could be the coffee mug, a pair of socks, something little, but it's a vehicle for telling their story, and I think that's something that we're really trying to do here," she said.
Those interested in donating items can contact Rudko to begin a conversation. The RAM said it has particular gaps in its collection regarding lesbian and transgender history. "I am happy to speak to anyone that thinks they might have something big or small, because people don't always look at that pair of shoes in their closet or that backpack and (think that it) is of historical significance," she said. "Even if you don't feel like you're the biggest, most important person in that community, even if you think, 'You know, I have a fun story about a Polaroid,' or something like that — just call me."
