ALLAN SHIFF, 83, first focused on environmental causes in 2006. In 2020 the Shiffs donated $1.5-million to The ROM, Canada’s largest museum. Their goal was to create an endowed climate-change division, and that’s what’s happening. Environmental programming is already on the calendar, making this probably a world’s first among major museums. <above photo by Melissa Tait>Allan Shiff to Kathryn Blaze Baum of The Globe and Mail – “I was not interested in seeing an exhibition where people come and say, ‘Wasn’t that fascinating?’and then go home and forget about it. The project must involve citizen engagement. To do nothing is a very dangerous thing.” ‘The Cloth That Changed The World: Art and Fashion of Indian Chintz’ is already on, until September/2021.This exhibition highlights the worldwide impact of India’s textiles and the finely tuned techniques used to create luxurious pieces. They revolutionized art, fashion and science wherever they went around the globe, connecting cultures, inspiring imitation and, quite literally, changing the world.