Exhibit Overview

Location: Archives of Ontario’s Reading Room at 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd., Toronto, ON M7A 2C5
Dates: May 22, 2025, to February 27, 2026
Visiting hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM EST 

The Canada Black Music Archives (CBMA) invites you to experience B’LACK THEN: Muted Melodies, an exhibition that explores the lives of 23 artists across 10 music genres through photographs, albums, newspaper clippings, film screenings, discussions, and more.  

Spread across eight glass vitrines, visitors are invited to explore significant albums, singles, and compilations by artists such as Portia White, Salome Bey, Jackie Shane, Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Sibbles, Nana McLean, Adrian Miller, Motion, Rochester aka Juice, and Gene King. Rare sheet music by the Ball Family, Shelton Brooks, and Nathaniel Dett is also featured, along with original performance costumes worn by King Cosmos, Claudja Barry, and Rochester aka Juice. 

The vitrines also include intimate photographs of the Assoon Brothers, Kobèna Aquaa-Harrison, and Archie Alleyne, as well as treasured musical instruments. Among them are Kobèna Aquaa-Harrison’s handcrafted guitar, signed by Bo Diddley and other prominent musicians, and Pan Man Pat’s beloved steel pan, famously played at the first Caribana in 1967. 

A short, silent film reel presents scenes from Caribana, now known as the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, capturing the vibrant spirit of the festival during the 1970s and 1980s. Behind the screen, a pillar covered in photographs and archival materials brings this history to life and highlights the cultural significance of the festival. 

Presented by the Canada Black Music Archives and the Archives of Ontario, this exhibition features loaned materials from a wide range of collections and archives, including Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections, Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections, Northside Hip Hop Archive, the Library of Congress, and the Toronto Public Library. 

Other contributors include notable individuals and estates such as the Estate of Salome Bey, the Estate of Portia White, the Bobby Dean Blackburn Fond, Kobèna Aquaa-Harrison, Claudja Barry, Robert Ball, Rob Bowman, Rochester aka Juice, Motion, Gene King, Albert Assoon, Anassia O’Connor, Shawne Jackson-Troiano, Adrian Miller, King Cosmos and Pan Man Pat.  

This exhibition was collaboratively curated and organized by Phillip Vassell (Executive Director), Donna McCurvin (Managing Director), and Shadio Hussein (Collections Manager) of the Canada Black Music Archives, with support from Collections Assistants Vivian Ho and Nicole Cholewka. 

We extend our gratitude to the Archives of Ontario for their valuable support, with a special thank-you to the Outreach team: Sean Smith, Danielle Manning, Ashton Osmak, and Alexandra Hoare, and to the team at the CBMA.