Curatorial Statement 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a response to trauma. Historically, PTSD has been described through terms such as shell-shock, operational stress, and battle fatigue. It has also been the subject of representations in literature, art, film, and the media that all too often perpetuate misconceptions and reinforce social stigma. In bearing witness to the testimony of Veterans (former members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and Family members who courageously shared their experiences with us, this exhibit seeks to contribute to changing the narrative, to de-stigmatizing PTSD, and to cultivating a culture of understanding, healing, and solidarity.

 

Pathways: Experiences of PTSD offers an insight into unique and diverse experiences of PTSD. The term Pathways symbolizes the various trajectories that have led to this moment in the lives of the remarkable people interviewed for this exhibit, from their first encounters with PTSD, through their moments of hardship and healing, to the present. Developed in partnership with the Centre of Excellence on PTSD and Related Mental Health Conditions (COE), an independent non-profit agency, hosted by the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, and funded by Veterans Affairs Canada, Pathways is the creation of Shrouk Abdelgafar, Jasmin Anisa Cardillo, Meghan Carriere, Sarah Catterall, Natalie Cross, Alexa Lepera, Laura Lefevre, Carol Markos, Kavita Mistry, Sam Nicholls, Megan Oldfield, Karen Reynolds, Lauren Rollit, and Kirstan Schamuhn, emerging historians and scholars from the “Witnessing Trauma, Narrativity, and Public History'' graduate studio under the guidance of Dr. Trina Cooper-Bolam, held at Carleton University September-December 2021. In collaboration with Veterans and Family members, this testimony-based virtual exhibit contributes to the COE’s ongoing work of centering the lived and living experience of Veterans, while affording an opportunity for experiential learning for Carleton students.

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Carleton’s Public History graduate studio,“Witnessing Trauma, Narrativity, and Public History,” drew upon the different disciplines, backgrounds, and geographies of its students, each contributing diverse personal, academic, and professional experiences. Some brought personal experiences of military Family life, and familiarity with the Veterans’ organizations discussed throughout the exhibit. Others identified themselves or their loved ones as having PTSD. With a vicarious trauma risk identified, rigorous research ethics protocols were put in place and clearance obtained. All students completed the Tri Council Policy Statement 2 for Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans certification training before meeting the interview participants, who were identified by the COE. Informed by cautions put forth in curating and representing what trauma studies scholars like Cathy Caruth calls the “speaking wound” (1996), the team worked with the COE to try to avoid imposing narratives that could perpetuate further harm or stereotypes. Grounded in an understanding that the curator cannot be the sole authoritative voice in the exhibit development, especially when trying to understand and curate “difficult knowledge” defined by Historians Erica Lehrer and Cynthia Milton as “knowledge [that] points to more challenging, nuanced aspects of history and identity” (2011), the team committed to illustrating the diverse experiences of the Veteran and the Family, giving visibility to individuals at different places in their healing. The photos displayed in Pathways were selected and shared by the interview participants, and provided the means by which they were able to exercise further agency and authority in the curatorship of the exhibit.

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Pathways was produced in response to the two-fold challenge to collect the testimonies of Veterans and Family members, building an oral history archive for use in public education by the COE, and to create a digital exhibit that - through the testimonies - would educate the public and encourage the de-stigmatization of PTSD. We aimed to think of a “public” that has no preconceived notions of PTSD, while also recognizing this exhibit could reach other Veterans and Family members of those affected by PTSD.

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As interviewers, we became “secondary witnesses” to the participants’ trauma, a concept discussed by Silke Arnold-de Simine in museum and memory studies (2013). As curators, we assumed the responsibility of story-tellers, organizing and presenting the different narratives, perspectives and experiences each individual shared with us. Pathways consistently emphasizes the lived and living experience of individuals and Families affected by PTSD. As such, the exhibit asks the visiting public to bear witness to their experiences. Intended to generate empathy and compassion for those who experience PTSD, Pathways seeks to spur “affective action” and to deconstruct the “Other,” drawing on curatorial concepts developed by Sociologist Roger Simon (2011). Likewise, our approach to curating images from interview participants was informed by Historian Laura Brandon’s critique of the fetishized and glorified images so often used to represent trauma and PTSD (2009). Informed by these and other considerations we aimed to stimulate historical consciousness and promote public education on the human dimension of PTSD. Doing so, we also aimed to contribute to discourses of the New Museology and to curatorial praxis that augments the social role of the museum/exhibit in educating the public and inspiring change (Marstine 2011).

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Pathways was developed around four guiding themes, which emerged from the interviews themselves: PTSD is Not Unusual, PTSD is Unique to Each Person, PTSD Extends Beyond the Person, and Healing is Possible. The themes are intentionally presented in this order to address and dismantle preconceived stereotypes of PTSD. Using historical research and words from practitioners and those who live with PTSD, we define in the introduction that PTSD is a human response to trauma. The exhibit follows this narrative throughout and highlights the individual experiences of those living with PTSD. Using audio clips and callouts, we aimed to represent the unique nature of PTSD and how it may be linked to multiple intersectional traumas. The phrase “unique to each person” also extends beyond the individual living with PTSD to incorporate the diverse experiences of their Family members. The exhibit concludes with the important message that while PTSD is a lifelong experience for some, there are resources available that can aid in the process towards potential healing. This discussion of healing strategies ignites a message of hope and encourages those who are living with PTSD to explore these options. The content is structured on one easily navigable page where each key theme flows seamlessly into one another. Presenting the content in this manner allowed us to mirror the semi-structured and conversational flow of the testimonies to better display the interconnections between each theme. In doing so, we were able to remove virtual and invisible boundaries that are usually imposed by separate pages.

 

As emerging curators, our commitment has been to share unique stories and experiences with the public in an impactful way. Drawing inspiration from Andrea Witcomb’s discussions on how to visually display testimony and trauma, the voices of our Veterans and Family members were prioritized through the use of descriptive text, stand-out quotes, audio clips and other visual components (2013). This exhibit opposes what Jenny Edkins describes as the language of the powerful, guided by social and political orders that stigmatize PTSD, and instead uses the power of language through text and audio to communicate the human experience of PTSD as a response to trauma (2003). Understanding that we are working with difficult knowledge, we have included multiple resources, such as a timeline, educational elements, and further materials from the COE, for the public to consult after experiencing the exhibit. These resources are intended to contextualize the testimonies of our Veterans and Family members in the broader understanding of PTSD.

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A vital component, which contributed significantly to the success of this project, was the collaboration between the students, the COE and the Veterans and Families. Solidifying content with the COE and recognizing their role as a stakeholder was crucial to fully honouring the exhibit premise. In the midst of a pandemic, we have all had to adapt to the challenges of being in isolation from one another and working through virtual platforms such as Zoom and Discord. These methods proved to be highly beneficial as we were able to keep in constant communication with one another, host rapid idea generation sessions, and share our progress easily. Delays in the development of our exhibit forced us to be more flexible with our expectations; however, we were able to overcome this challenge by dividing the work evenly amongst ourselves and structuring the exhibit together. Despite the strict time frame, we were able to hold true to our commitment to our Veterans and Families by producing a meaningful and thought-provoking testimony-based virtual exhibit about PTSD.

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Works Cited

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Arnold-de Simine, Silke. "Difficult Pasts, Vicarious Trauma: The Concept of ‘Secondary Witnessing’." Mediating Memory in the Museum. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2013. 36-43.

 

Brandon, Laura. "Making the Invisible Visible Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Military Art in the 20th & 21st Centuries." Canadian Military History 18.3 (2009): Article 6. 1-6.

 

Caruth, Cathy. "Introduction: The wound and the voice." Unclaimed experience: Trauma, narrative, and history (1996): 1-9.

 

Edkins, Jenny. “Introduction: trauma, violence and political community.” Trauma and the Memory of Politics. Cambridge University Press (2003): 1-19.

 

Lehrer, Erica, and Cynthia E. Milton. “Introduction: Witnesses to witnessing.” Curating Difficult Knowledge. Palgrave Macmillan, London (2011): 1-19.

 

Marstine, Janet. "The contingent nature of the new museum ethics." The Routledge Companion to Museum Ethics. Routledge (2011): 3-25.

 

Simon, Roger I. "A shock to thought: Curatorial judgment and the public exhibition of ‘difficult knowledge’." Memory Studies 4.4 (2011): 432-449.

 

Witcomb, Andrea. "Remembering the dead by affecting the living: the case of a miniature model of Treblinka." Museum Materialities. Routledge (2013); 59-72.

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