Activating an Archive: Margaret Perry and the Nova Scotia Film Bureau
Mon Sep 19 5:00pm - Wed 21 10:00pm (ADT)

Join us for three nights of events to mark the digital release of the career work of Margaret Perry, the filmmaker and director who made over 50 films for the Nova Scotia Film Bureau (1945-1969). These promotional films depict the province as a site of tourism, industry, labour, and heritage and are complex artifacts that articulate and reflect understandings of government policy, cultural discourse, as well as Perry’s own perspectives and artistic voice.

On Monday, September 19 at 5 p.m. the Nova Scotia Archives welcomes you to a free reception to celebrate the digital launch of these Margaret Perry films as well as images from her scrapbooks and collection. (Online at archives.novascotia.ca/perry). The reception will offer an opportunity to explore elements of the newly digitized materials, and visit the video installation inspired by Perry’s work happening in the Chase Gallery, David Clark's immersive cinema exhibit, "Woman With a Movie Camera"--an exploded view of the films of Margaret Perry.

It will also feature, From the Beyond" -- an interpretive exhibition curated by Carla Taunton and Jennifer VanderBurgh. The installation and onsite exhibit will be available until the end of September.

On Tuesday, September 20 at 6:10 p.m., join us for a sample program of Perry’s work, followed by a Q&A period and roundtable discussion.

On Wednesday, September 21 at 7 p.m. join us at the Halifax Central Library for a talk by Dr. Jennifer VanderBurgh (Saint Mary’s University), invited by the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society “Activating the Archive: Margaret Perry’s Nova Scotia Promotional Films (1945-1969).” Jennifer has been working to activate this collection housed at Nova Scotia Archives as part of Archive-Counter-Archive, a pan-Canadian research project that advocates for vulnerable audio-visual media collections. This lecture will introduce the collection, the process of activating it, as well as the discovery of new materials that bring more information to light about Perry’s artistic development and filmmaking practice. It will also consider some of the ethical complexities and considerations at stake in reviving this collection today.