(
)

UPCOMING EXHIBITION

Lamentations: Witnessing Death in Art

Lamentations: Witnessing Death in Art is a curated online exhibition of various representations of death and dying from the M(M)A’s vast art collection. From the unsettling and intricate prints of Francisco de Goya’s Disasters of War, to Lovis Corinth’s confrontation of mortality in Death and the Artist II, LAMENTATIONS memorializes the ultimate and final condition of life itself: death. This exhibition calls its viewers to sit within the unknown company of death, and to face mortality with the camaraderie of existence itself.

HIST 4HP3 Heritage Placement offers an opportunity to gain experience, both theoretical and hands-on, with the McMaster Museum of Art and their various departments: curatorial, collections, installations, communications, and education. Under supervision by Nicole Knibb, Senior Educator, Academic and Professional Engagement, the student interns have worked closely with M(M)A staff to create this online exhibition.  We extend out thanks to Julia Dalafu and Clara May Shewman-Vickers for choosing the M(M)A for this history practicum and capstone experience for experiential learning in the field of history and culture.

To view the full online exhibition, click the button below:

Image Credit:
Robert Harris, Cemetery Brompton, London England, c. 1886-1901. Oil on pressboard Overall: 14 x 21 cm (5 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. Russell Hewetson, 1991.

Further Reading

Curated by Clara May Sherman-Vickers.

Aubade by Philip Larkin
No Moses in Siege by Mohammed El-Kurd
The Boy Died in My Alley by Gwendolyn Brooks
A Yiddish Poem from the Holocaust by Herschel Zynoberg
Elegiac Sonnets by Charlotte Smith —
Especially Sonnet 
VXXI, and LXXIV
D.O.A by Tim Dlugos
Five Poems by Toni Morrison
A Daughter of Eve by Christina Rossetti
How To Lose Everything: A Field Guide by Christa Couture
To All the Young Who Want to Die by Gwendolyn Brooks

Accompanying Playlist

Curated by Julia Faye Dalafu.

Curated by: Clara May Sherman-Vickers & Julia Faye Dalafu

April 08, 2026 – January 01, 2027

VIEW ARCHIVE
Link to Exhibitions Archive for a complete list of past exhibitions

PAST EXHIBITIONS

Meryl McMaster: Bloodline

Meryl McMaster: Bloodline

Read More
What of the eternal harm lurking all around?

What of the eternal harm lurking all around?

Read More
Artwork made out of collaged images on paper featuring a rustic cabin surrounded by flora, fauna, birds, whales,

The Great Unseen

Read More
The Great Sea: Mediterranean Imaginaries from Antiquity to Modernity

The Great Sea: Mediterranean Imaginaries from Antiquity to Modernity

Read More
SUMMA 2025: Affirmations

SUMMA 2025: Affirmations

Read More
Ascending Horizons

Ascending Horizons

Read More
A series of small ceramics and pottery arranged neatly in rows on a 6-stepped white platform.

Sameer Farooq: The Fairest Order in the World

Read More
A blurred person walks in front of a wall featuring the photographic series Grace (2006). The artworks on display are photos of figures with hands covering their faces. Installation view of I'm Not Your Kinda Princess at Plug In ICA.

Lori Blondeau: I’m Not Your Kinda Princess

Read More

SUBMISSIONS & ASSISTANCE

SUBMISSIONS:

The McMaster Museum of Art is presently not accepting artists’ submissions for exhibitions at this time of leadership change at the museum.  Our Interim Director will be undertaking a review of the museum’s forward exhibition schedule, as well as our policies and procedures, in the coming months.  Our present focus is the ongoing maintenance of our permanent collection and storage needs for future collection activities.

The museum remains committed to our collecting priority in the continued support of early career, mid-career and established Indigenous artists, artists of the Black diaspora and racialized artists through purchases and commissions. Donations will be welcomed and reviewed at a future date which will be posted on our website.

ASSISTANCE:

The McMaster Museum of Art is a third party recommender for Ontario Arts Council (OAC) Exhibition Assistance Grants.

The museum is currently accepting applications. Our next program deadline is: December 16, 2024.

Priorities:
Artists who demonstrate an interest and consideration of art as a medium for social change and action.

Please follow the guidelines established by the Ontario Arts Council, apply directly through their website, and submit the following with your applications:

Brief artist statement
Confirmation letter from the gallery/museum/venue
Budget
CV
Digital images of work