New Digital Exhibition: Cultural Practices of Intermediality

Cultural Practices of Intermediality addresses this question through two case studies: the stage and the visual arts. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, print proliferated in the theatrical and artistic realms, whether in books, magazines, libretti, playbills or printed images, to name but a few examples.

The print items curated for this exhibition were selected for their sometimes explicit, and frequently implicit engagement with other media. The Beggar's Opera, for instance, was advertised on playbills and referenced in popular printed works. Its script and musical score were also available to the public in relatively affordable booklets. Catalogues and livrets de Salon were printed to accompany art exhibitions. Patrons used these not only to identify the works on display, but also to scribble down notes and to make sketches of the gallery items and environment as well.

Cultural Practices of Intermediality explores the emergence of the increasingly widespread media ecology in Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The exhibition will appeal to those with an interest in print and, we hope, encourage further reflection on how print engaged with a complex array of other communication interfaces during this period.

View the exhibition at: http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/intermediality