Personal home
Gatineau, Quebec
2021-23
Role: Interior designer and project manager

Before buying this circa ’50s house in Gatineau, Jem had bought and remodelled several 1920s houses. Unlike those older homes, this one had a more relaxed feeling – the perfect setting for Jem to create an easygoing homage to Midcentury Modern, without having to get too serious about it.

Style at Home article

Photos by Janet Kimber

Canadian Museum of History
Gatineau - Quebec
September 1, 2022 to September 1, 2023
Roles: Creative Lead and Design Manager

From Pepinot to PAW Patrol® – Television of Our Childhoods featured one hundred of the television programs that encouraged Canadian children to read, write and count. Visitors were invited to explore 70 years of Canadian children’s television, rediscovering numerous clips from everyone’s favourite shows, original costumes, puppets and more.

Photos by Janet Kimber

Canadian War Museum
Ottawa - Ontario
November 23, 2022 to March 19, 2023
Roles: Head of Scenography and Media Productions

Renowned today as one of England’s finest painters of horses, Sir Alfred Munnings created more than 40 works of art as part of the Canadian War Memorials Fund. Commissioned in 1918 to record the activities of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade and the Canadian Forestry Corps, Munnings produced landscapes, portraits and many paintings featuring horses — all now part of the Canadian War Museum’s Beaverbrook Collection of War Art.

This exceptional exhibition revealed Munnings’s powerful legacy, and makes it possible to more clearly understand Canada’s First World War experience

Photos by Janet Kimber

Canadian Museum of History
Gatineau - Quebec
May 19 to August 22, 2021
Roles: Head of Scenography and Media Productions

Visitors were invited to travel back in time to the ancient Egypt of 3,500 years ago, where they encountered women of power and influence. This major exhibition featured more than 300 iconic objects, including monumental statues, sarcophagi, funerary objects, and jewellery, associated to legendary queens such as Nefertari, Nefertiti, and Hatshepsut.

This immersive multisensory experience offered audiences an unforgettable glimpse into one of history’s most important ancient civilizations.

An exhibition developed by Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archaeology and History Complex, in collaboration with Museo Egizio (Turin, Italy), and adapted by the Canadian Museum of History.

Photos by Janet Kimber

Canadian Museum of History
Gatineau - Quebec
December 6, 2021 to September 4, 2022
Roles: Head of Scenography and Media Productions

What happens when personal freedoms come into conflict with national security? Exploring the suspension of civil liberties in Canada during the First World War, the Second World War and the 1970 October Crisis, Lost Liberties – The War Measures Act sheds new light on the enduring impact of the Act on Canada and its people.

The exhibition examines notably the internment of Canadians of Ukrainian origin and other nationalities during the First World War, the internment of Italian Canadians and the internment and forced relocation of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, and the arrest of hundreds of people in Quebec during the 1970 October Crisis.

Lost Liberties probes the fears, racism and crises that drove these tragic events, and features poignant first-hand accounts from the men, women and children who lived through them.

Photos by Janet Kimber

Canadian Museum of History
Gatineau - Quebec
May 17, 2019 to January 26, 2020
Roles: Head of Scenography and Media Productions

The exhibition was originally developed by the Musée de l’homme for an European audience. A different venue and public meant that the overall design approached had to be revisited in order to speak directly to a North American audience. The main scenographic intention was to depict Neanderthals through a contemporary lens. For instance, through the use of a rich colour palette and geometrical shapes and forms, the graphic approach immerses the visitors in a vibrant, refreshing and immersive atmosphere. The multilayered museum content and text hierarchy offered another design challenge, and considerations had to be made in order to overcome the amount of text panels, all while offering an accessible experience. 

The overall presentation was improved with key media productions, such as the immersive introduction that provided a stylized cavern with angular canvases on which clips of movies, ads and television’s shows, were projected. Sitting in the gallery entrance, its intent was to give a reflection to the visitors of their stereotypical views of cavemen in general.

Photos by Janet Kimber

Canadian Museum of History
Gatineau - Quebec
May 17, 2019 to April 14, 2019
Roles: Head of Scenography and Media Productions

A sudden snowstorm, encounters with time travellers, and instructions to leave your anger at the door – Notman, Visionary Photographer, is not your normal museum exhibition. Visitors take a dramatic tour of Victorian photographer William Notman’s extraordinary body of work through four aspects of his personality: an intrepid businessman, an inveterate networker, a determined innovator, and a visionary artist.

A winner with audiences, the exhibition is also garnering attention from museum professionals – it won the Société des musées du Québec’s Le Prix Excellence, and the Canadian Museum Association’s Award of Outstanding Achievement (Research). This is an adaptation of Melanie Crespin original design, commissioned for the McCord Museum for their presentation.

Photos by Janet Kimber

Canadian Museum of History
Gatineau - Quebec
June 6, 2018 to January 20, 2019
Roles: Head of Scenography and Media Productions

Knights in armour, papal power moves, courtly love: audiences in Canada were ready to enjoy the British Museum’s touring exhibition, Medieval Europe: Power and Splendour. The Canadian Museum of History’s key challenge was to give the decidedly British exhibition a contemporary and Canadian spin, one that would entice and inform North Americans who were not surrounded by medieval history.

The British Museum supplied over 200 treasures, many of which had never been displayed in Canada, as well the exhibition texts. To supplement this impressive collection, the Canadian Museum of History identified and borrowed 20 additional artifacts from other museums.

As the exhibition team made their content choices, their North American audience was never far from their minds. Market surveys revealed that Canadians already knew quite a bit about the Middle Ages, but were hungry to learn more. The team added an interactive experience at the heart of the exhibition to provide more in-depth information about familiar figures and create a narrative backbone to the medieval timeline. The team also considered audience when adding a final zone that explores the medieval legacy in North America.

Photos by Janet Kimber

Aga Khan Museum
Toronto - Ontario
June 6 to October 18, 2015
Roles: Creative Lead and Design Manager

In an exclusive Canadian showing, A Thirst for Riches: Carpets from the East in Paintings from the West points to the active history of trade between Europe and Muslim civilizations while exploring how beautiful objects acquire new meanings as they are exchanged. Drawing from the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — supplemented by loans from other institutions — the exhibition pairs mid-17th-century Dutch paintings featuring Eastern carpets with actual carpets produced in the East during the same period. Did these carpets symbolize wealth and worldliness — or did they signify vanity and excess?

Photos by Janet Kimber

Aga Khan Museum
Toronto - Ontario
July 25, 2015 to Jan 3, 2016
Roles: Creative Lead and Design Manager

Pushing boundaries, testing limits: this powerful exhibition from the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE runs the gamut from photography to installation, sculpture to painting, and more. The visitors experience the work of 12 Arab artists who examine how private life is shaped by current political events.

Photos by Janet Kimber

Aga Khan Museum
Toronto - Ontario
February 6 to June 26, 2016
Roles: Creative Lead and Design Manager

The city we now know as Istanbul has been an important cultural and economic hub for centuries. Under its many guises, this magnificent place has witnessed a succession of empires, the migration of peoples, and astounding urban growth.

The exhibition proposed to experience the many faces of this city through the astonishing historical collection of the noted Turkish collector and art philanthropist Ömer Koç, and a selection of works by the renowned contemporary photographer Murat Germen. Albums, panoramas, and individual photographs from the 1850s to the early 1900s are combined with 21st-century views that seem almost futuristic in their rendering of scale and space. Immerse yourself in a living city whose history is as varied as the people who call it home.

Photos by Janet Kimber

Aga Khan Museum
Toronto - Ontario
February 25 to June 21, 2015
Roles: Creative Lead and Design Manager

The second half of the 16th century until the first half of the 19th century was a time of cultural merging that saw Persian themes, Indian colours, and Western influences find their way into Indian architecture and art. Never before shown in North America, the exhibition Visions Of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin features exquisite paintings from this period produced in the Mughal court, the Deccani Sultanates, and the Rajput kingdoms. An outstanding group of elephant portraits, vivid evocations of daily life, royal portraits, and dramatic illustrations of epics and myths are among the highlights of the thematically organized exhibition. All works were selected from the outstanding personal collection of British artist Howard Hodgkin (b. 1932), whose own paintings were also displayed in the concurrent exhibition, Inspired by India.

Photos by Janet Kimber

Toronto, Ontario
May 2013 to September 2014
Role: Monitoring and managing the museography, way-finding signage and interior design details. Creative lead of the overall museum brand and visual voice.

As a vibrant educational institution, the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto's newest cultural landmark, encourages the full spectrum of public engagement with its diverse Permanent Collection and its ever-changing roster of exhibitions and innovative programs – including music and dance performances, theatre, lectures, workshops, and film screenings.

Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto - Ontario
November 19, 2011 to April 9, 2012
Roles: Production Artist, Creative Assistant and Budget Holder

Familiar to most but understood by few, the history of the ancient Maya is shrouded in mystery. Their secrets have remained buried for centuries – until now. In this landmark exhibition, the visitors were taking a journey through the mysteries of the Mayan culture. They discovered the sacred roles of their divine rulers, their elaborate writing and counting systems, the cycles of life and death… and the truth behind the 2012 end-of-days legend.

Écomusée du fier monde
Montreal, Quebec
September 27, 2012 to February 24, 2013
Roles: Project Manager, Creative Lead, Exhibition and Graphic Designer

From the mid-19th century until today, numerous citizens have marked the social history of Montreal and the Centre-Sud neighbourhood. This exhibition proposed to discover these community-based pioneers, activists, donors, community workers and stakeholders who have contributed to collective betterment. To get to know these inspiring people, the visitors were going through an intricate path, articulated around a perspective of cubes and spacial constructions. A virtual version of this project is available online at expocitoyens.ca.

Awards
Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Museums: History Alive!

Gatineau, Quebec
Société Pièce sur Pièce
Roles: Art Director and Graphic Designer

A comprehensive guide that document the history of the Gatineau region. The book, penned in French and titled L’Autre Outaouais, accompany the readers/travellers through the MRC des Collines, La Petit Nation, Vallée de la Gatineau and Pontiac.

Awards 2013
Prix du mérite en interprétation de l'AQIP
Lauréat des Culturiades, prix Patrimoine
Prix Flamand, Histoire et Patrimoine
 

Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto, Ontario
Permanent Exhibition, opened in 2011
Roles: Creative Design Assistance, Production Coordination

In this gallery ancient Rome is brought to life through the largest collection of Roman artifacts in Canada. The thematic display takes you on a journey spanning over 1000 years of history through Republican and Imperial Rome and encompassing a vast geographic area from Britain to Egypt. The gallery also includes the Bratty Exhibit of Etruria, which throws light on the culture of the Etruscans, Rome’s enigmatic Italian neighbours.

Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto, Ontario
2010
Role: Creative and Graphic Design, Production Methods Research

Mammals of Ontario explores several aspects of the animals that live in the province. Students learn about the physical and behavioural adaptations to their living environments and how these adaptations help create the biodiversity that enriches our lives.

Featuring six activity centers, students are encouraged to think about biodiversity and mammal biology from a scientific point of view. The activities have been designed to help students develop their skills in observation, analysis and interpretation. They are able to work directly with a variety of animal specimens as well as casts of animal bones.