Kailyn Gibson
“Learning from this talented group of people, who are all aware and committed to the transformative power of art, has been such a privilege and an honor, as I now know that my goals and interests in the art world can be realized, and work surrounding cultural identity and unity is beginning to come to fruition in museum spaces, something that I was not aware of a few years ago.”
Museum Exhibitions Visited: Temporary exhibitions Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa, Ekow Nimako’s Building Black: Civilizations, and Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From, as well as the Museum’s permanent Collection
Focus of Research: Kailyn focused on larger issues surrounding Islamic art, including identity, visibility, and the power of new inclusive narratives. She was also interested in exploring the African-American voice in exhibitions. With this broad research focus, she familiarized herself with many key aspects of museum work and museology while working on projects in the Curatorial and Marketing departments. These included conducting assigned exhibition evaluations, leading and evaluating two marketing focus groups, and engaging in a project related to the Museum advertising and social media channels. She also conducted a task that involved assessing the museum scene in Toronto and how other institutions compared to the Aga Khan Museum in terms of their mission and mandate.