Exhibition: Desire Lines. Displaced Narratives of Place

By Marina Bokovay

Head, Archives Special Collections, uOttawa Library

Archives and Special Collections
Desire Lines Exhibition
This exhibit displayed at Artexte in Montreal, until March 25, 2023, showcases material from uOttawa Archives and Special Collections.

Curated by Felicity Tayler, Research Data Management Librarian at uOttawa Library, the exhibition Desire Lines. Displaced Narratives of Place highlights these lines, bounded by metadata describing three magazines published in Toronto between 1978 and 1987 :  Fireweed, Border/Lines, and Fuse (formerly known as Centerfold), as well as their network of artists and writers who have mobilized around them.

Felicity Tayler photo

“For the librarian, curatorial practice and data infrastructure necessarily centre the ethics of access to information, to the technologies of memory and identity-making.”

Felicity Tayler

— Research Data Management Librarian at uOttawa Library

The exhibit highlights several pieces from the Library’s Archives and Special Collections (ARCS) Unit. From the Women’s Archives Periodicals Collection, the literary magazines Fireweed and Tiger Lily offer perspectives from the voices of Indigenous women and  Women of Colour. From the Women’s Archives CWMA collection, the Mama Quilla II album cover and the Pink Type pamphlet are examples of lesbian feminist cultural activism through music and alternative publishing networks. 

Exhibit Desire Line
Desire Lines. Displaced Narratives of Place (2023, Artexte), exhibition views. Curator: Felicity Tayler © Paul Litherland.

Artexte is a library, research centre and exhibition space for contemporary art, with a unique print and digital document collection holding over 30 000 documents covering various aspects of the visual arts.

Check out the exhibit page to plan your visit and get more details.

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