CELAFI’25
‘Look Back’ – ‘Move Forward’
Digital Archive Initiative
The CELAFI’25 journey is first: ‘ Look Back’ remember, honour, and raise the curtain of invisibility that cloaks the phenomenal undertakings that were CELAFI`92 and CELAFI`97 International Conference Festival. Then ‘Move Forward’ documenting, facilitating, and becoming a cohesive third pillar of cultural strength as our community continues to evolve, staking, and claiming Canada`s Black artists rightfully earned seat at the table of Canada`s national arts mosaic.
Ambitious? Yes! But so too was CAN:BAIA`s audacious premise for CELAFI`92 & ’97 which was; `unite and showcase the wealth of Canada's National Black community of artist practitioners and their creations’. Somehow, in the last 25 years, these objectives have become derailed. Today the cart is righting itself and in this new technological media age, the CELAFI’25 Digital Archive will be the ‘ Move Forward’ tool in this initiative: a dynamic, national multi-disciplinary repository; a permanent, ever-evolving resource; community building block and educational tool; accessible to all; collecting, evidencing and acknowledging the many achievements ‘then & now’ of our many artists’ and arts iniatives.
More information on the C25 Initiative: info@celafi25.com