Trousseau Opens at Mary Black Gallery

The Mary E. Black Gallery presents The Hundred-Year-Old Trousseau, an exhibition featuring works by the Lake Ainslie Weavers Guild and friends, and curated by Virginia McCoy.

For The Hundred-Year-Old Trousseau, the Lake Ainslie Weavers Guild researched, collected and created replicas of hand-crafted items that would have been found in the hope chest and trousseau of a bride in 1901. Artists were paired with the artifacts and made over 90 items for the exhibition. It includes clothing, bedding and other housewares.

The design of the exhibition is unusual in that the guild and curator created the persona of a young Cape Breton woman, Rachel Campbell. Viewers are asked to imagine being in the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Campbell, where Rachel and friends are brought together to enjoy a festive afternoon tea and to admire her hope chest and trousseau. The exhibition reveals the continuity of craft activity in a domestic setting over the intervening one hundred years.

The Hundred-Year-Old Trousseau opened Thursday, Nov. 22 and runs through Jan. 5 in the Mary E. Black Gallery, 1683 Barrington Street, Halifax.

The gallery is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 902-424-4062 for details. Admission is free, with donations welcome.

The gallery is a program of the Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design, which works to promote and develop craft- and design- related industries in Nova Scotia. It is owned and managed by the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism and Culture.