Research and Programs
The Bata Shoe Museum conducts and sponsors research into understanding of the role of footwear in the social and cultural life of humanity. Through acquiring, conserving, researching, communication and exhibiting material evidence related to the history of footwear and shoemaking, the museum illustrates the living habits, the culture and the customs of people. Its international collection of over 12,500 artifacts spans 4,500 years of history.
The Bata Shoe Museum Foundation has funded field trips to collect and research footwear in Asia, Europe, and circumpolar regions and cultures where traditions are changing rapidly (Siberia, Alaska, Greenland, the Canadian Inuit and the Saami people). The foundation has also produced academic publications, many of which are available online or in the museum's store.
The museum organizes lectures, performances, and social evenings, often with an ethnocultural focus or community partner. A representative activity is 'Til 10 at the BSM, an event which keeps the museum open late into the evening, featuring a 'Til 10 lounge, cocktails, and a piece of performance art is showcased by a local artist. Events often illuminate a personal connection or a cultural context in which footwear was created; for example, "In the Shoes of an Elizabethan Lady: The Passions and Scandals of Frances Walsingham" (2007) featured a curator's lecture and short concert of period music followed by an exhibition viewing. In 2010 the Museum hosts two lecture series — the "On a Pedestal" exhibition inspired a Renaissance lecture series and the ongoing Discovering Treasure lecture series. Themed family activities have included Family Fun Weekends, as well as special events featuring storytelling, music, arts and crafts, and trying on unusual and funky shoes. The museum holds an annual "Warm the Sole Sock Drive" fundraiser, which begins on World Kindness Day, to collect socks for donation to a local charity.
The museum is affiliated with CMA, CHIN, Virtual Museum of Canada, Ontario Association of Art Galleries, and North American Reciprocal Museums.
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