Go inside this mid-century design exhibit — including an outfit crocheted from old CBC videotape

In our series Scenes from an Exhibition, Canada's top curators showcase some of their favourite works from exhibitions that were closed off to the public due to COVID-19.

Right now, many of us are still stuck at home as we continue to follow social distancing rules amidst the pandemic. We're sitting on the same couch everyday, looking at the same artwork on the walls and yearning for new scenery to surround ourselves in. This is something Daina Augaitis, Interim Director at the Vancouver Art Gallery, found oddly timely in relation to an exhibit she has been curating.

Modern in the Making: Post-War Craft and Design in British Columbia features over 300 works in furniture, ceramics, textiles, fashion and jewellery that were created in the mid-20th century on the West Coast. While Augaitis has been working at home, she says this time has made her "very mindful of the objects around me." And this incredible appreciation of design was a similar sentiment that people shared in the 1950s and 60s in British Columbia. 

Augaitis says, "One of the things about the post-war period was that it was full of optimism and people were interested in building new houses and living in spaces that were minimal, simple, where you could really focus on the everyday aspects of life. There was a heightened consciousness of how people surrounded themselves with objects." 

The Modern in the Making exhibit begins with a feature on the Indigenous makers on the West Coast. "What we wanted to do in this exhibition was to recognize that there were already people living here who had extraordinarily well-developed and technically sophisticated methodologies for making crafts," explains Augaitis. Furniture is also a big focus in the exhibition and highlights a shift in design where furniture went from being "heavy, wooden and cumbersome" to "much lighter, more minimal and more streamlined that reflected that optimism in the world after the war."

One artist that Augaitis was particularly interested in was Evelyn Roth. She was born in Alberta in 1936 and moved to Vancouver in 1961, where she became embedded in the arts scene. "She was very interested in recycling, and what she did was crocheted an entire ensemble out of videotape that she got from the CBC. She also made a coosy for her car and drove across the country, stopped in various cities, and stepped out fully decked out in this wonderful ensemble."

You can learn more about the Modern in the Making exhibit above in our latest instalment of Scenes from an Exhibition. And if you're in Vancouver, Augaitis says they're planning to install and open the exhibition later this summer. She hopes "you'll be inspired by all of the craftspeople and designers from the 1950s and 60s who were so innovative, who were so interested in materials and who were determined to come up with new forms, new shapes and new innovations in their field."

CBC Arts understands that this is an incredibly difficult time for artists and arts organizations across this country. We will do our best to provide valuable information, share inspiring stories of communities rising up and make us all feel as (virtually) connected as possible as we get through this together. If there's something you think we should be talking about, let us know by emailing us at [email protected]. See more of our COVID-related coverage here.