Documentary Protocols (1967-1975)/ Protocoles Documentaires (1967-1975)

In the mid-1960s, Canadian artists suffered from cultural isolation as museums were indifferent to their work and the international art market seemed beyond reach. Artists made up for this state of exclusion by creating alternative spaces in which they could present experimental work and offer services to members of their communities. This collection of critical essays addresses an historical moment in which the investment of the concept of information by artists converged with the role of administrator they bestowed upon themselves. The historical trajectory of these self-managed organizations can now be observed in their archival fonds, where the results of partially realized utopias exist alongside material evidence of the artists' labour. Following the decompartmentalization characterizing the period, the editorial structure of this publication provides equal visibility both to the sampling of documents and to the case studies based on the close reading of the concerned items.