Connected Histories: The Telegraph in Nigeria opens September 1, 2026, at McMaster Museum of Art. Free admission. 

Join us at the Opening Reception on Thursday, September 17, 2026, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. No registration required. 

We asked Nnamdi a few questions: 

How has this exhibition idea evolved within your research and through the McMaster network? 

Nnamdi Nnake: My current research is focused on telecommunications development in Nigeria, which traces its origins to the introduction of the telegraph in the late-nineteenth century. But when compared with the Global North, the significance of telegraph networks in Africa is an under-studied area of academic and public scholarship, so it is a privilege to be engaged in developing a body of work that helps to address this gap. In Summer 2025, a colleague familiar with my scholarly interests and public works of history recommended that I curate an exhibition. The idea was captivating but thinking about how to execute it left me with more questions than answers. But that Fall, I met another scholar who had recently curated an exhibition on telegraphy in India and our ensuing exchange was a lightbulb moment.  

This exhibition, Connected Histories: The Telegraph in Nigeria, uses a combination of actual telegraph artifacts and enlarged images to showcase telegraphic communications in colonial Nigeria from a variety of perspectives such as, public use, local innovation, and maintenance, as well as colonial aims and local resistance. Visitors will be immersed in telegraphy via a combination of physical and digital content, such as the simulation of real-life telegraph operations. I am really excited to see how this research and exhibition have come to life.

In my scholarship and research, I enjoy using multimedia like animations, audio, digital art, text, and videos to examine the historical, current and future sociopolitical entanglements of African societies with colonial-era technologies such as railways, telephones, and radio. My goal is to make history authentic, appealing and accessible to audiences while retaining scholarly rigour for current and future use. I have adopted this interdisciplinary and cross-medium approach for Connected Histories and hope the exhibition can engage the McMaster community and the wider public.

How does the exhibition relate to our local communities? For example, local African-Canadian organizations, McMaster students and faculty, and how are you and the museum planning to engage with the Mac community? 

NN: Everyone has something to learn from the exhibition, even without direct links to Nigeria or Africa. The legacies of telegraphic communications for modern society are numerous. If you rely on telephones, television, radio, the internet, computers, trains, planes, digital banking, and quite literally, anything linked to telecommunications, the exhibition will offer opportunities to learn about the origins of many technologies individuals and societies depend on today. 

More specifically, the exhibition will be useful to McMaster’s academic and research community. In addition to public education, the project outputs include a newly published peer-reviewed essay in Technology and Culture, a globally renowned academic journal and flagship publication of the Society for the History of Technology, as well as an academic seminar presentation. My dream is that thesis-based exhibitions are formalized into an annual competition or systematic pathway for graduate students to develop and further their research. This would deepen institutional collaborations between academic departments at McMaster University and the M(M)A. The exhibition will also collaborate with the University’s ARiEAL Project, which is developing cutting edge visual wearables. So, this exhibition is not only history, but also interdisciplinary fusion of humanities, art, and technology research is quite amazing to be part of. 

Within McMaster, the exhibition will also be useful for undergraduate courses in history, media and communications, or science and technology studies in Fall 2026. For example, students can be invited to conduct visual or other analysis of the exhibits within prescribed learning frameworks and produce academic reports or reflections that are evaluated as a portion of course requirements.   

Finally, I am working with the M(M)A to promote the exhibition with the wider heritage community in Hamilton and the GTA, as well as to African Canadian students and other groups. Because it has digital elements, people can also enjoy Connected Histories from all over the world. 

What is one work that you have a personal connection with? Why? 

NN: Every work curated for this exhibition has special meaning for my research. The more I study them, the more I learn about telegraph technology and the local people who made it possible. Perhaps, I am a little partial to the scene of Mechanicians in the Posts and Telegraphs Workshop at Ebute Metta.

The men in the image exude professionalism and confidence in their knowledge and competence for the tasking work of maintenance and repairs that kept the network operational. Yet, these men are part of a largely unnamed but critical colonial workforce of technical professionals. This is an image I find striking for because it represents both presence and absence, which is an apt metaphor for the status of public and scholarly works on the telegraph in Nigeria.  

Speaking to the artifact loans from Ingenium and Northwestern Libraries, how do they complement the museum’s permanent collection and add to the museum and the exhibition? 

NN: The artifacts from our collaborating institutions and the M(M)A’s permanent collection complement one another well. Themes such as altered landscapes and the environmental impact of technological infrastructure permeate throughout both collections. I am excited that the permanent collection will also be on display. This cross-collection collaboration lends itself naturally to interdisciplinary approaches for curatorial and research work, as symbolizing how the whole is greater than the sum of the two collections. The institutional collaboration that this project has engendered also underscores the M(M)A’s mission as a leading art museum. 

Nnake expressed his deepest gratitude for “the network of knowledge systems and researchers that have enriched and enabled the project.” He also acknowledged the invaluable institutional support provided by Northwestern University Libraries and  Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation. In particular, Nnake extended thanks to Professors Bonny Ibhawoh, Megan Armstrong, and Juanita De Barros of McMaster University’s History Department, as well as Mary Reid, Director and Chief Curator of the McMaster Museum of Art, whose equal partnership was instrumental in shaping and bringing the project to life.

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The apropos theme of event was GLAM given the content of the The Clichettes’ exhibition which celebrated the renowned artist trio of Louise Garfield, Johanna Householder and McMaster Associate Professor Janice Hladki. Their groundbreaking practice from 1978 to 1993 was at the crossroads of performance art and feminist satire bridging theatre, lip-sync, dance, drag, costume, and comedy, scrutinizing the tropes of femininity and masculinity. The group’s first-ever retrospective was curated by Dr. Ivana Dizdar and celebrated the many dynamic collaborations with artists, writers, designers, and directors, bringing together over 150 costumes, props, videos, photographs, drawings, scripts, and archival materials.

For Dizdar the exhibition production brought to life “the kindness, courage, spirit, magic, and friendship… In a world that feels chaotic and unjust, I hope this show stands as a testament to the power of art to help us imagine a better world.”

The GOG Awards celebrate the outstanding achievement, artistic merit, and excellence of arts institutions and professionals in the public art gallery sector across Ontario and to be shortlisted for an award is a tremendous honour. However, winning is an incredible accomplishment particularly for the M(M)A given the other shortlisted institutions in this category were the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Ottawa Art Gallery, whose budgets and resources far exceed those of the modest yet mighty M(M)A team. Special acknowledgement needs to be given to former Director and Chief Curator Carol Podedworny who stewarded the project and publication prior to her retirement, Betty Julian, Senior Curator, who saw the exhibition come to fruition, along with Preparator and Exhibition Designer, Sam de Lange, and Exhibition Coordinator Julie Bronson.

The Clichettes also extend their gratitude to “the many photographers, designers, wigmakers and musical influencers who contributed their work and to Kim Tomczak and Lisa Steele at V-Tape for bringing our recorded past into the present day.”

The GLAM (also an acronym for galleries, libraries, archives and museums) event also featured Toronto’s Poet Laureate, Lillian Allen, receiving an award for her contribution to The Clichettes’ exhibition catalogue. Another contributor, Dr. Mark Kingwell, University of Toronto Professor, was also shortlisted for a writing award as well the gorgeous publication designed by Rob Gray was up for an award.

An impressive undertaking, The Clichettes exhibition, is an important example of how the museum serves as a liaison between the university and the wider public at large. From the number of partners and contributors to both the exhibition and publication production to the full circle moments such as McMaster alum Jenn Heldson, of The Muses, playing a key role in restoring the costumes and props of her former professor Janice Hladki along with her business partner Hope Wickett.

The important work that takes place at the M(M)A is certainly in service to the campus community yet has the ability to stretch out into the greater community at large, extending McMaster’s reach and impact.

On a personal note, when I was considering applying for the role of Director and Chief Curator, I visited this exhibition and was blown away, as many were, by its complexity, sassiness and sophistication. I left the Museum knowing that this was a place I wanted to join and belong. My intention is to continue to carry forward and build upon the impressive foundation that has been most deservingly acknowledged by Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries, for which the M(M)A is very thankful for this prestigious recognition.

Written by Mary Reid, MA, MBA, Director and Chief Curator

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