Welcome to Archive/Counterarchive
Archive/Counter-Archive is a project and research network dedicated to activating and preserving audiovisual archives created by Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis, Inuit), Black communities and People of Colour, women, LGBT2Q+ and immigrant communities. Political, resistant, and community-based, counter-archives disrupt conventional narratives and enrich our histories.
Established in 2018 through a Social Science and Humanities Partnership Grant, the network is committed to finding new ways to activate, preserve and restore Canada's diverse moving image heritage. Our evolving mandate combines education and advocacy to raise awareness and find resources to support audio-visual preservation -- with a special focus on short format media which have very few resources available for preservation.
activating Canada's audiovisual heritage
News and Events
Check out what's on at Archive/Counter-Archive below! Visit our News and Events page for complete listing.
Margaret Perry: A Life in Film Exhibit at the Archives of Ontario
This travelling exhibition, originally shown at the Nova Scotia Archives in conjunction with the "Margaret Perry and the Nova Scotia Film Bureau Films" A/CA Case Study, arrives at the Archives of Ontario this summer.
Artscape Sandbox
301 Adelaide St W
Toronto ON
Worth More Standing Screening & Performance
Organized by Archive/Counter-Archive, Worth More Standing is a hybrid screening and live expanded cinema performance event featuring the work of Vancouver-based artists Lindsay McIntyre and Peter Bussigel. The screening and performance will be followed by a short Q&A and a reception.
A/CA Members at the Film and Media Studies Association of Canada (FMSAC) 2023 Conference
Congratulations to many A/CA members who are presenting their research at this year's Film and Media Studies Association of Canada (FMSAC) Annual Conference on May 27-29, 2023, at York University in Toronto, Canada, held in conjunction with the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences!
Case Studies
Our Case Studies examine a range of themes, media, histories, and geographies through a selection of Canadian, community-based, and independent archives and collections.
See Case StudiesImage
GIV - Les Autres/Women and AIDS/HIV (Anne Golden, 1991)
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"Margaret Perry and film camera." Nova Scotia Information Service Nova Scotia Archives no. NSIS 1200
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Arnait Video Productions
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Toronto Living With AIDS (1990-1991) public access cable television series promotional poster, courtesy of David Plant/Trinity Square Video
Working Groups
Working Groups provide a resource for the Case Studies and extend the research through papers, policy recommendations, workshops, exhibitions, and public talks.
See Working Groups
