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.
Dec 12-19: Portraits of the Past, Contemporary Perspectives, online at White Frame
Join us for a week-long online screening of Portraits of the Past, Contemporary Perspectives: Explore Videographic Insights into Time and Transformation
A/CA Members at the 2024 Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) Conference, December 4–6
Congratulations to A/CA members Almudena Escobar López, Laura Horak, and Michael Marlatt, who are presenting their research at the upcoming 2024 ASSOCIATION OF MOVING IMAGE ARCHIVISTS (AMIA) Conference being held December
November 29–30: Viral Interventions Conference and Screening
Viral Interventions is a York University research-creation project led by John Greyson and Sarah Flicker that, since 2020, has commissioned artists, activists, and scholars to collaborate on making new films about living with HIV today.
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
Women in Focus Society, from the Crista Dahl Media Archive, VIVO
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GIV - Sans statut (Marik Boudreau, 2005)
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Arnait Video Productions, Production shots from Before Tomorrow, 2008, © Arnait Video Productions. Courtesy of Arnait Video Productions.
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Friends of Shoal Lake 40, Water Action, Jan. 2017, Reflects in Water stencil series, ongoing, artist: Leah Decter, funded by Winnipeg Arts Council.
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
