Cartoons, Caricatures, and Propaganda
About

About

About the Exhibition

Picturing Politics: Cartoons, Caricature, and Propaganda takes a critical look at the vision of Canadian history and identity crafted by early 20th century editorial cartoons. Centered around the work of Newton McConnell, an editorial cartoonist who worked for the Toronto Star in the early 20th century, Picturing Politics contextualizes McConnell’s work for contemporary audiences. Over a hundred years have passed since these cartoons were published in Canadian papers. Yet, they offer a fruitful entry point to discussing early 20th century Canada and highlight the importance of critically examining images we encounter in the media today.

The exhibit was developed by a team of Master of Museum Studies students in the final year of their program at the University of Toronto.

The exhibit would not be possible without the support and guidance of the Archives of Ontario. Many of the source materials and ideas for the exhibition come from the Archives of Ontario’s Newton McConnell fonds, which are available to view on the Archives of Ontario Visual Database. Additional support and archival materials come from Toronto Public Library and the Digital Archive. 

Finally, Picturing Politics was realized with support and funds from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. 

Exhibit Development Team

Interpretive Planner

Brooke Downey

Interpretive Planner
Curator & Researcher

Sophia Germond

Curator & Researcher
Project Manager

Bronwyn Graham

Project Manager
Education & Public Programming

Octavian Ion

Education & Public Programming
Web Designer & Illustrator

Zoe (Zihan) Xu

Web Designer & Illustrator

Image Disclaimer

Some of the images you see in this exhibit have been edited for decorative and illustrative purposes. Where an original image is displayed, the full citation has been provided. Many of the edited images are also featured in their original format in the exhibition. Decorative artworks are illustrations created only for this website.

If you have further questions or comments on this, feel free to contact us at info@picturingpolitics.com.

Special Thanks

The exhibition development team behind Picturing Politics would like to thank all of our partners and sponsors, as well as the following individuals in particular for their time and support.

Archives of Ontario

Alison Little

Danielle Manning

Jay Young

Jonathan Rotsztain

Toronto Public Library

David Sprague

Nicole Dawkins

Cartoonist in Residence

Lee Lai

Expert Panelists

Ardo Omer

Cleopatria Peterson

David Robertson

Academie Ste. Cecile International School

Ms. Melody LaBonte

Jessica Robins

Anjali Atikukke

Jingwen (Taylor) Huang

Aneesha Bhullar

Faculty of Information

Agnieszka Chalas

Camille-Mary Sharpe

Haley Bryant

Katherine Shyjak

Additional Support

Jordan Vetter

Albert Jansen

Laura Davis

Julian Voinic

Tarik Haiga

Land Acknowledgements

Land Acknowledgement for Toronto

We acknowledge the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Nisidotaw-Aki Toronto

Giinawind-Toronto nisidotaw maanda aki, zagaswidiwin kina bimaadzig Mississauga of the Credit miinwaa Anishnabeg miinwaa Chippewa miinwaa Haudenosaunee miinwaa Wendat bimaadjig. Gaye nisidotaw gakina bimaadjig zhinkazidwin Inuit miinwaa Metis. Toronto nisdotaw maanda mazingan waaki-midaaswi-shay-niswi wiijiMississaugas of the Credit.

Reconnaissance des territoires traditionnels (Toronto)

Nous reconnaissons que la terre sur laquelle nous nous réunissons est le territoire traditionnel de nombreuses nations, notamment les Mississaugas du Crédit, les Anishnabeg, les Chippewa, les Haudenosaunee et les Wendats, et abrite maintenant de nombreux peuples diversifiés des Premières nations, des Inuits et des Métis. Nous reconnaissons également que Toronto est couvert par le Traité 13 avec les Mississaugas du Crédit.

ᐃᐧᐣᒋᑲᑌ ᑐᕑᐊᐣᑐ ᑭᒋᐅᑌᓇᐠ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᓂᐣᑕᑦ ᐃᒪ ᐁᑭᐱᑲᐯᔑᐊᐧᐨ

ᓂᑎᐸᒋᒧᒥᐣ ᐅᒪ ᐊᐦᑭᑲᐠ ᑲᑕᔑᒪᐊᐧᒋᐦᐃᑐᔭᐠ ᐁᑭᐱᔑ ᑲᐯᔑᐊᐧᐨ ᒥᔑᐣ ᐸᐸᑲᐣ ᑲᐅᑕᑲᓀᓯᐊᐧᐨ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᐊᔑᐨ ᐃᑫᐧᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᑯᕑᐁᑎᐟ ᒥᓯᓴᐧᑲ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ, ᐊᓂᔑᓇᐯᐠ, ᒋᐱᐊᐧ, ᐦᐊᐧᑌᓄᓴᐧᓂ ᒥᓇ ᐁᐧᐣᑕᐟ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᐁᑲᐧ ᒥᐦᐅᒪ ᓄᑯᑦ ᑲᑕᔑᑲᐯᔑᐊᐧᐨ ᓇᓇᑲ ᑲᐃᓇᑲᓀᓯᐊᐧᐨ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ, ᐃᓄᐃᐟ ᒥᓇ ᐊᐱᑕᐃᐧᑯᓯᓴᓇᐠ. ᓂᐃᐧᑕᒥᐣ ᒥᓇ ᑐᕑᐊᐣᑐ ᑭᒋᐅᑌᓇ ᑲᐃᔑᑕᑲᐧᐠ ᒪᔭᑦ ᐃᒪ ᐁᔑᐊᑌᐠ ᑯᕑᐁᑎᐟ ᐊᓂᔑᓂᓂᐊᐧᐠ ᑐᕑᐃᑎ 13 ᐅᑕᑭᐃᐧ ᐊᔓᑕᒪᑯᐃᐧᓂᐊᐧ.