Artful Naturalism: Special Exhibition at the Redpath Museum (17 Jan - 21 Feb)
Sir John William Dawson (1820–1899), former principal of Â鶹´«Ă˝ÍřŐľ, was a notable geologist, president of Montreal’s Natural History Society, and founder of the Redpath Museum. He was also a lifelong advocate of Protestant Christianity.
Merging religion and science in ways that may seem contradictory today, Dawson believed that studying nature revealed God’s design. As evolutionary theories emerged, he defended the Biblical account of creation and rejected the idea that species, including humanity, became more complex over time. He maintained that all life began in a single act of Creation only a few thousand years ago, and that humans were uniquely made in God’s image. He believed that the first people were monotheists, before many cultures degenerated into polytheism with many gods and spirits.
These beliefs shaped what Dawson hoped visitors would learn at the Redpath. Placing human artifacts alongside animal fossils from different eras challenged the idea of successive evolutionary stages. Displaying items only from non-monotheistic cultures reinforced their difference from Christianity. Most importantly, Dawson saw in carefully ordered natural collections a clear demonstration of God’s creative power and intentional design.
Inspired by Dawson’s blend of religion and science, Artful Naturalism asks: how do we order the world today? Integrated into the permanent exhibitions, each artwork reimagines boundaries between “natural” and “unnatural,” human and animal, spiritual and earthly. Dawson’s Desk recalls the Victorian era, while Nadia Huggins and Gabriel Dharmoo explore these themes in contemporary terms.
We invite you to think alongside us: What categories of knowledge have we inherited? What if we see ourselves as knowledge makers and shapers?
– Hillary Kaell
This exhibit is a TERA collaboration. Others include the interactive website and an experimental volume called The Artful Naturalist.
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The exhibit will be open from 17 January to 21 February, with a live performance by Gabriel Dharmoo on 21 February.