Arch/Live (2026 — Work in Progress)
Arch/Live is an interactive installation that seeks to demonstrate what a non-extractive approach to archiving may look like. Responding to Linda Alcoff’s idea of extractive epistemologies (2022) which “attempt to extract epistemic elements from their original surroundings and in this way from their political, ethical, and institutional context of articulation” thereby making it possible for “knowledge-seeking institutions or individuals to avoid being held accountable to the ethical, political, and economic demands of [the communities] whose resources are being extracted”; this work offers an alternative approach to the preservation of knowledge and memory (Alcoff 2022).
Drawing on recent discussions hosted by the Concordia chapter of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group and Archive Montreal (ARCMTL) regarding student activist archives, as well as my own work as an archivist with the Feminist Student News and Protest Archive (SNAP), Arch/Live presents itself as a living archive–one that reflects the importance of a collaborative and ongoing process through which an oppositional cultural heritage may be formed.
Existing as a mult-media sculptural installation, Arch/Live consists of materials reproduced (with permission) from the Feminist Student News and Protest Archive, where I work as the primary archivist. Using metal wire to create a circle on which strings with archival materials are attached, Arch/Live resists the idea that any archive is ever complete, positing that all archives are partial and ongoing. Though beyond the scope of this project, the installation would ideally be displayed in a public forum with a box of strings and paper clips as well as a call for those passing by to contribute their own materials related to activism on campus. Arch/Live seeks to materially perform a framework of counter extractive archiving.
Archival materials sourced from the Feminist Student News & Protest Archive. Special thanks to the organizations who’s materials are represented here: The Black Student Network of McGill, QPIRG McGill, CKUT, SACOMSS McGill, The Daily, DIVEST McGill, SPHR, & QPIRG Concordia. Additional thanks to Lawrence Butet-Roch for her support on this project.