Archive/Counter-Archive

Archive/Counter-Archive (A/CA): Activating Canada’s Moving Image Heritage is a six-year research-creation project focusing on works by women, Indigenous Peoples, the LGBT2Q+ community, and immigrant communities.

Led by Janine Marchessault and funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant, the partnership is composed of four universities (York, Ryerson, Queen’s, and Concordia), numerous communities, memory institutions, and policy advocates.

Our research is committed to finding solutions for safekeeping Canada’s audiovisual heritage. We seek to activate and remediate audiovisual heritage that is most vulnerable to disappearance and inaccessibility, fostering a community and network dedicated to creating best practices and cultural policies.

The A/CA community includes over 60 participants, each with significantly diverse collections, access to technical resources, and expert archival knowledge.

The Vulnerable Media Lab is a central hub for the archiving of audiovisual materials. Projects that the lab has worked on include the P4W, Modern-Fuel, Winnipeg Film Group, and Arnait.

counterarchive.ca