What’s new

16 Oct, 2018 Gabriel Girard’s text in open access. “Sida, enjeux de mémoire, enjeux de savoirs” (AIDS: Questions of Memory, Questions of Knowledge)

Following his public lecture of August 15 2018 at “Quebec Gay Archives at the Cinéma du Parc”, Gabriel Girard offers us the full text of the presentation.
The lecture and film screening, along with the poster exhibition held August 1-31, were part an event celebrating the 35^th anniversary of the Quebec Gay Archives.

Please find here in French the full text of Gabriel Girard’s presentation.  We thank him for his generosity.  Sida, enjeux de mémoire, enjeux de savoirs

www.gabriel-girard.net/sida-enjeux-de-memoire-enjeux-de-savoirs

Who is Gabriel Girard?  Dr Girard is a member of  CREMIS (Centre de recherche de Montréal sur les inégalités sociales et les discriminations).  He is currently employed by the Direction régionale de santé publique.

The Cinéma du Parc was a sponsor of “Les AGQ au Cinéma du Parc!” along with Fierté Montréal Pride, Fugues and several donors.
Note that Fierté Montréal graciously sent its official photographer, André Bilodeau, to commemorate the evening.  Samuel Bonnefont, web and social network coordinator of REZO, also filmed the lecture.

In the forground: Gabriel Girard beofre his lecture, August 15 2018.
In the background: John Banks–member of the Quebec Gay Archives– before the screening of the movie JOHN BANKS, une vie d’engagement during the same event.
Photo Credit : André Bilodeau / Fierté Montréal Pride. All rights reserved.

15 Oct, 2018 At the Écomusée du fier monde: InterReconnaissance (Inter-recognition) with the Quebec Gay Archives and Other Community Organizations

On September 2018, members of the team of the Quebec Gay Archives attended the opening of the exhibition InterReconnaissance – Retracing Struggles for Recognition which will be held at Montréal’s Écomusée du fier monde until February 3 2019.

Read the original news item with full details of the contribution of the Archives to the show :
http://agq.qc.ca/en/2018/06/27/2018-2019-the-archives-on-tour-in-quebec-museums

InterReconnaissance (Inter-recognition) on tour:  After Rivière-du-Loup’s Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent and the Écomusée du fier monde in 2018, the exhibition will be presented at the Musée POP – La culture populaire du Québec in Trois-Rivières in 2019 (dates to be confirmed).

Partial view: InterReconnaissance – Retracing Struggles for Recognition
Photo Credit: Emmanuel Galland / AGQ. All rights reserved.

15 Oct, 2018 Sixth Edition of FIÈRE LA FÊTE in Sherbrooke with the Quebec Gay Archives.

On Saturday August 25 2018, the Quebec Gay Archives participated for the first time in Fière la Fête: “Célébration de la diversité en Estrie / Pride”.

Along with many other national, regional and local organizations gathered in Sherbrooke, the three representatives of the Archives staffed a kiosque under the big tent set up beside the Marché de la Gare and Lac des Nations.

The goal of the Sherbrooke Community Day was to be a family-friendly event welcoming to all and highlighting the community organizations of the Eastern Townships.

FIÈRE LA FÊTE was a unique opportunity for the Quebec Gay Archives to network with other community groups as well as to collect regional materials for our files.  Visitors to our table learned about the history and role of the organization and the richness of our collections.

As Iain Blair, vice-president of the Quebec Gay Archives, summarized:  “A very positive energy and a generally young and feminine crowd.  I think that our participation was extremely positive in terms of visibility”.

From left to right: Jonathan Dorey (archivist and councillor), Emmanuel Galland (assistant coordinator) and Iain Blair (vice-president of the Board).
Photo Credit: D.R. / Archives gaies du Québec. All rights reserved.

02 Oct, 2018 The Quebec Gay Archives and Fierté Montréal: a relationship with results

Once again this year the team of the Quebec Gay Archives took part in several of the activities of Fierté Montréal Pride during the month of August.

The “Quebec Gay Archives at Cinéma du Parc” was an event in two parts presented at the Cinéma du Parc with the support of and during Fierté Montréal Pride.
– From August 1 to 31 2018, an exhibition in the lobby of the cinema was composed of 26 posters on HIV/Aids, selected from the approximately 600 posters held by the Quebec Gay Archives.  More than 14,000 people visited this exhibition, with free admission seven days a week.
– On August 15 2018, the Quebec Gay Archives held a two-part public presentation in Salle 2, at the Cinéma du Parc.
The lecture and film screening, along with the poster exhibition held August 1-31, were part an event celebrating the 35^th anniversary of the Quebec Gay Archives.
The evening began with a lecture by sociologist Gabriel Girard entitled “Sida, enjeux de mémoire, enjeux de savoirs”*.
Following the lecture, the public was treated to the premier of the film “John Banks, une vie d’engagement”.  This film was produced by the Quebec Gay Archives as part of an internship held by Alexis Baribeault (director of the movie).

The Archives also received a community award from the Fierté Montréal Pride organization in order to produce a new promotional postcard highlighting a photo of the famous Guilda drawn from our collections, a new banner as well as newly designed T-shirts.  Jean Logan, our long-time graphic designer, worked on all of these materials as well as those of the events at the Cinéma du Parc.

The Archives participated, as usual, in the annual Community Day on August 18  with its own kiosk and were well represented in the 34th annual Pride Parade, held August 19th.  Members of the group marched proudly beneath our new banner.

The Quebec Gay Archives thanks Fierté Montréal Pride for its ongoing support.

* You can find the full text (in French) of Gabriel Girard’s lecture on his website: www.gabriel-girard.net/sida-enjeux-de-memoire-enjeux-de-savoirs

From left to right: Richard Lafontaine (volunteer), Ross Higgins (cofounder and volunteer), Tony Esposito (member of the board), John Banks (volunteer),
Jacques Prince (cofounder and chief of the board), plus a volunteer from Fierté Montréal Pride.
Also part of our team: Alexis Lemieux (volunteer) and other friends from Quebec Gay Archives.
Photo Credit: André Querry / AGQ. All rights reserved.

27 Sep, 2018 The Quebec Gay Archives hosts Gabriel Girard and John Banks

On August 15 2018, the Quebec Gay Archives held a two-part event at the Cinéma du Parc.  Gabriel Girard and John Banks were the two guests of honour.

The lecture and film screening, along with the poster exhibition (held August 1-31), were part an event “The Quebec Gay Archives at the Cinéma du Parc!” celebrating the 35^th anniversary of the Archives.

The evening began with a lecture by sociologist Gabriel Girard entitled
“Sida, enjeux de mémoire, enjeux de saviors”.  Dr Girard is a member of  CREMIS (Centre de recherche de Montréal sur les inégalités sociales et les discriminations).  He is currently employed by the Direction régionale de santé publique. A question period with the general public followed his presentation.

Following the lecture and a short appearance by John Banks, the subject of « John Banks, une vie d’engagement » (46 min., 2018), the public was treated to the premier of the film.  John Banks shone during this testimonial of a rich and interesting life.  This film was produced by the Quebec Gay Archives as part of an internship held by Alexis Baribeault (as director of the movie).

Who is John Banks?  Born in Montreal, John Banks has been a noteworthy activist for several decades.  As well as being the personal secretary of the legendary Marlene Dietrich, he has been involved with a great many LGBTQ+ community organizations over the years.  John Banks currently devotes a great deal of his time to the Quebec Gay Archives.

You can find the full text (in French) of Gabriel Girard’s lecture on his website: www.gabriel-girard.net/sida-enjeux-de-memoire-enjeux-de-savoirs

The Cinéma du Parc was a sponsor of “Les AGQ au Cinéma du Parc!” along with Fierté Montréal, Fugues and several donors.

Note that Fierté Montréal graciously sent its official photographer, André Bilodeau, to commemorate the evening.  Samuel Bonnefont, web and social network coordinator of REZO, also filmed the lecture.

“The Quebec Gay Archives at the Cinéma du Parc!”, Wednesday, August 15 2018.
Upper: Gabriel Girard during his conference (Salle 2, Cinéma du Parc).
Down: Alexis Baribeault and John Banks.
Photo Credit: André Bilodeau / Fierté Montréal. All rights reserved.

24 Sep, 2018 The Quebec Gay Archives at the Cinéma du Parc.

From August 1 to 31 2018, the Quebec Gay Archives held an exhibition in the lobby of the Cinéma du Parc in Montréal.

This exhibition, as well as the lecture and film showing of August 15, comprised the “Quebec Gay Archives at the Cinéma du Parc!”, organized to commemorate the 35^th anniversary of the organization.  More than 14,000 people participated in the event, with free admission seven days a week.

This exhibition is composed of 26 posters on HIV/Aids, selected from the approximately 600 posters held by the Quebec Gay Archives.  They were chosen to represent a large plurality of experiences, depicting men, women and children of many origins.  The graphic approaches are rich and varied, reflecting their times of creation, their national origins and above all the goals of the organizations which created them.  The selection was made by exhibition coordinators Pierre Pilotte and Emmanuel Galland.

This exhibition was inspired by the work of Ross Higgins (cofounder of the Archives) and Philip Lewis, who in the past created larger scale poster exhibitions drawn from the HIV/Aids collection of the Quebec Gay Archives.

The Cinéma du Parc was evidently the major partner of the « Quebec Gay Archives at the Cinéma du Parc! », but we should also recognize the sponsorships of Fierté Montréal, Fugues and several private donors.

The Quebec Gay Archives thanks Guy L’Heureux for having documented the exhibition.  We also thank Fierté Montréal for kindly sending its official photographer, André Bilodeau, to record the events of the evening of August 15.

Photo Credit: André Bilodeau / Fierté Montréal (upper), Guy L’Heureux / AGQ (down).
All rights reserved.

07 Sep, 2018 The Quebec Gay Archives lost a friend

It is with sadness that board members and volunteers have learned about the death of Frank Remiggi, a friend and donor of the Quebec Gay Archives.

M. Frank W. Remiggi
1951 – 2018

Passed away in Montreal, on September 3rd, following a long and debilitating illness. Formerly a professor of geography at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), he completed his undergraduate degree (joint-honours anthropology and geography) at McGill University, after which he attended the Memorial University of Newfoundland where he undertook a Master’s degree in historical geography. He returned subsequently to McGill where he obtained his PhD. Initially a sessional lecturer at McGill’s French-Canadian Studies Center, he began his long UQAM career in September 1978, retiring in June 2012.

Read the article

26 Jul, 2018 The Quebec Gay Archives at the Cinéma du Parc in August 2018

26 Jul, 2018 A School, A Park, An Archive

On July 11, as part of the A School, A Park summer graphics design workshop, the AGQ welcomed two groups of participants at the archives. Under the tutorship of Katja Mater, Sara Kaaman, and Jessica Gysel from GIRLS LIKE US, twenty of so participants were introduced to the AGQ and browsed some of our collections, focusing on the Namaste « zines » fonds. GIRLS LIKE US is an independent magazine turning the spotlight on an international expanding community of women from all genders within arts, culture and activism. They are on Facebook and Instagram.

Photo credit : DR/AGQ

10 Jul, 2018 Summer Closing: Everybody outside

The Quebec Gay Archives is closed from June 24 until Sept. 3, 2018.

After this period, the Quebec Gay Archives will welcome visitors to its reading room located at 1000 Amherst Street in Montreal, Suite 103. We will be open to the public Thursday evenings between 7:30 and 9:30 pm. Please call or email us to make an appointment outside of these times.

Have fun at Fierté Montréal!
Participate to our event at Cinéma du Parc in August!

The AGQ at the Cinéma du Parc in August
Fierté Montréal Pride
Cinéma du Parc