Memory as Resistance: Grassroots Archives and the Battle of Memory

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Memory as Resistance: Grassroots Archives and the Battle of Memory

November 2, 2012

CONNEXIONS and Beit Zatoun are spotlighting grassroots archives this November with an open house and networking event November 24, a talk and discussion November 27, and an exhibit (November 16-27).

Grassroots archives play a valuable role in what has been called “the battle of memory”.
Mainstream media and institutions of power consign inconvenient histories, struggles, and alternative visions to what George Orwell called “the memory hole.”
People’s history projects such as grassroots archives preserve and share stories of resistance, hidden histories, and alternative visions. Their role is particularly important as official archives are forced to restrict acquisitions, limit access and discard materials as funding is slashed.

Join us at Beit Zatoun in looking at the future of grassroots archive projects.

Exhibition: Memories of Resistance
A display of social justice materials from the Connexions Archive.
November 16 – 27

Is that an archive in your basement... or are you just hoarding?
An open house and networking event for amateur archivists, keepers of the radical past, and friends and supporters of independent libraries, grassroots archives, and people’s history. Bring your stories, ideas, and examples of grassroots and radical history.
Saturday November 24, 2:00 – 5:00 pm

Preservation as subversion: Do grassroots archives have a future?
The Connexions Archive is looking for a secure and permanent home for its collection and the team of volunteers who work on cataloguing and digitizing. It isn’t alone. Other grassroots projects and “basement archives” face similar problems in preserving and sharing the history of activist groups and movements. They all believe that a knowledge of the past can be inspiring and subversive.

How can we preserve the history of our movements? Where can we preserve them?
Can we work together to digitize and share: ‘Archive locally, share globally’?
Join us at Beit Zatoun for a talk and discussion with historian Natalie Davis, Ulli Diemer of Connexions, and Dennis Findlay and Helen Lenskyj of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.

Admission free but contributions welcomed.
Tuesday November 27, 7:00 pm

All events at:
Beit Zatoun, 612 Markham Street, Toronto.M6G 2L8
Bathurst subway stop on the Bloor line (exit Markham Street)

For more information contact:
Ulli Diemer
Co-ordinator
Connexions Archive
Phone: 416-964-1511
Email: mailroom@connexions.org
Website: www.connexions.org

Beit Zatoun
612 Markham Street, Toronto.M6G 2L8
Phone: 647-726-9500
Website: www.beitzatoun.org

For more information:
The Case for Grassroots Archives
Is that an archive in your basement... or are you just hoarding?
The Connexions Archive: Securing a future for the past
About Connexions
A Glimpse of the Connexions Archive

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Connexions Information Sharing Services

Memory Resistance Grassroots Archives People’s History

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