The ArQuives

Queer Trivia: 2SLGBTQIA+ Stories
2023-06-14 18:00 - 21:00 (America/Toronto) | Glad Day Bookshop, 499 Church St, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 2C6, Canada
Join us in celebrating Pride through queer trivia on Wednesday, June 14th, at Glad Day Bookshop! This month’s show celebrates the publication of 2SLGBTQIA+ Stories, a resource developed by The ArQuives to support educators in incorporating queer and trans perspectives into their curricula! Meet us at Glad Day to win prizes, show off your queer trivia knowledge, and learn exciting tidbits on queer history, pop culture, and current events!
The first question at 7:00 pm – come early to make sure you get a seat! There’s no cover and no registration required. Teams are encouraged but not necessary. If you don’t already have a team, we’ll match you up with one, or you can take us on solo. Masks will be optional.
Join us and have a drink on The ArQuives to celebrate our 50th and the launch of our new Inclusive Education resources! Come early to grab a spot between 6-6:45 for your free drink ticket.

The ArQuives: Open House
2023-06-17 10:00 - 17:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
Please join us on June 17, 2023, from 10 am to 5 pm to help celebrate our 50th anniversary. Learn more about The ArQuives with a house tour, explore the collection material in our gallery space, and have a chance to chat with staff and volunteers.
Guided House Tours will take place at 11 am and 2 pm.
Join us for refreshments and cake all day long!

Church-Wellesley Village Walking Tour
2023-07-30 14:00 - 15:30, 2023-08-16 18:30 - 20:00, 2023-08-20 14:00 - 15:30 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
Church-Wellesley Village Tour covers LGBTQ2+ history after the Second World War focusing on the Church-Wellesley Village in Toronto.
The tour will meet at The ArQuives (34 Isabella Street, Toronto) and conclude at Barbra Hall Park (519 Church Street, Toronto).
Registration is required.

Queer Trivia: Queer Entertainment
2023-08-17 18:00 - 21:00 | Glad Day Bookshop, 499 Church St, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 2C6, Canada
Join us in celebrating Queer Entertainment through queer trivia on Thursday, August 17th, at Glad Day Bookshop! This month’s show celebrates all things Queer in Entertainment.
The first question at 7:00 pm – come early to make sure you get a seat! There’s no cover and no registration required. Teams are encouraged but not necessary. If you don’t already have a team, we’ll match you up with one, or you can take us on solo. Masks will be optional.

Keeping Our Stories Alive: Processing LGBTQ2S Histories with Jeffrey Canton
2023-08-18 18:00 - 2023-08-20 17:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
In partnership with Storytelling Toronto, The ArQuives is thrilled to present Keeping Our Stories Alive: Processing LGBTQ2S Histories with Jeffrey Canton.
Preserving personal stories of unique experiences of being LGBTQ2S is one of the most important ways to contribute to the history of the Queer and Trans community in Canada. This course offers participants techniques to take a memory or anecdote about their experience as LGBTQ2S and craft it into a polished performance piece. Participants will learn how to shape and enhance their story and give it the power it deserves as a contribution to our history as LGBTQ2S. Participants will be encouraged to donate their stories to The ArQuives as well as participate in a final concert where participants will share with their guests.
This course is being presented in person at The ArQuives during the following dates and times.
Friday, August 18 (6 pm- 10 pm)
Saturday, August 19 (10 am-4 pm)
Sunday, August 20 (12 pm- 5 pm)

Jeffrey Canton, a storyteller of traditional and personal tales for over three decades, identifies as LGBTQ, and much of his work focuses on his intersectional identity. He is a core member of Queers in Your Ears, Toronto’s oldest LGBTQ2S storytelling collective. Jeffrey has trained at the Toronto Biennial of Art in conflict resolution, anti-oppression, and anti-racism and uses this training to create a safe space for all participants.
The last day to register for this class is Monday, August 14th at 5 pm.

ONSTAGE / OFFSTAGE
2023-09-21 19:00 - 2023-10-14 17:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
In September 2023, Toronto-based artist/curator Jordan King will present a multi-media exhibition at The ArQuives gallery, highlighting materials held in our collection.
The exhibition will explore the ways stage performance in nightclubs, cabarets, and drag venues offered opportunity for self-actualization for gender fluid, trans, and gender non-binary individuals in the second half of the 20th Century. Documentary media held in the collection of The ArQuives offers a unique lens into the world of queer stage performers – whether portrayed through the eyes of a filmmaker/documentarian or by the performers themselves.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the summer in advance of this exciting exhibition!
Tickets are available for the exhibit opening and reception on September 21, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
The exhibition will be open to the public from September 21 – October 14.

Friday Sept 22, 1PM – 5PM
Saturday Sept 23, 1PM – 5PM
Friday Sept 29, 1PM – 5PM
Saturday Sept 30, 1PM – 5PM with a 3PM Curator Talk (in person)
Friday Oct 6, 1PM – 5PM

Thursday, Oct 12, 7 – 8:30 Online Talk (Zoom)
Friday Oct 13, 1PM – 5PM
Saturday Oct 14, 1PM – 5PM

Jordan King (she/her) @jordankingarchive is a Canadian multi-disciplinary artist, curator, and writer actively engaged in archival research and intergenerational dialogue. Her formative years were spent immersed in nightlife culture which continues to influence her work.
This project was developed with the support of the Archive/Counter-Archive research project, The ArQuives, and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Church-Wellesley Village Walking Tour
2023-09-24 14:00 - 15:30, 2023-09-27 18:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
Church-Wellesley Village Tour covers LGBTQ2+ history, focusing on the Church-Wellesley Village in Toronto.
The tour will meet at The ArQuives (34 Isabella Street, Toronto) and conclude at Barbara Hall Park (519 Church Street, Toronto).
Registration is required.

Queer Trivia: Back To School
2023-09-28 18:00 - 21:00 | Glad Day Bookshop, 499 Church St, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 2C6, Canada
Join us in celebrating the start of the new school year through queer trivia on Thursday, September 28th, at Glad Day Bookshop! This month’s show celebrates all things Back to School.
The first question at 7:00 pm – come early to make sure you get a seat! There’s no cover and no registration required. Teams are encouraged but not necessary. If you don’t already have a team, we’ll match you up with one, or you can take us on solo. Masks will be optional.

ONSTAGE/OFFSTAGE - Curator Talk
2023-09-30 15:00 - 17:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
Visit The ArQuives on Saturday, September 30, at 3 PM for an in-person Curator Talk with Jordan King. Jordan will share about the performers featured in the video and photographs on display, as well as the research process for the exhibition “Onstage / Offstage,” which runs in our second-floor gallery space until October 14, 2023. Dallas Fellini will moderate this event.
Jordan King is a multi-disciplinary artist, curator and writer. Her practice is rooted in performance, archival research and intergenerational dialogue. She is currently a Curatorial Practice MFA student at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada (Graduating 2024), with a focus on documentary film and multimedia documentation of underground queer performance. Jordan spent her formative years immersed in nightlife culture, which continues to influence her work and research. Her most recent projects have focused on LGBTQ2S+ stage performers in the mid/late 20th Century, an oral history interview podcast series, short video works and the creation of an autobiographical solo performance work.
Dallas Fellini is a curator, writer, and artist living and working in Toronto. They are a co-founder of Silverfish, an arts publication devoted to interdisciplinary collaboration, skill-sharing, non-institutional pedagogy, and cultivating sustained dialogue between contemporary artists and writers. Dallas is pursuing a Master of Visual Studies in Curatorial Studies at the University of Toronto. Their curatorial research is situated at the intersection of trans studies and archival studies.

ONSTAGE/OFFSTAGE Curatorial Talk
2023-10-12 19:00 - 20:30 | Online, Canada
Tune in Thursday, Oct 12, from 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM Eastern for an Online Talk (via Zoom Webinar) with Jordan King and Dallas Fellini. This discussion will explore the process of navigating difficult language when curating from queer and trans archives, along with an exploration of seeking traces of transness in archival film and video.
Note: A link to view a film by Anton Wagner and Edimburgo Cabrera, held in the collection of The ArQuives, will be shared with those who RSVP. This 30-minute film is intended to be viewed in advance of the Webinar.

Jordan King is a multi-disciplinary artist, curator and writer. Her practice is rooted in performance, archival research and intergenerational dialogue. She is currently a Curatorial Practice MFA student at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada (Graduating 2024), with a focus on documentary film and multimedia documentation of underground queer performance. Jordan spent her formative years immersed in nightlife culture, which continues to influence her work and research. Her most recent projects have focused on LGBTQ2S+ stage performers in the mid/late 20th Century, an oral history interview podcast series, short video works and the creation of an autobiographical solo performance work.
Dallas Fellini is a curator, writer, and artist living and working in Toronto. They are a co-founder of Silverfish, an arts publication devoted to interdisciplinary collaboration, skill-sharing, non-institutional pedagogy, and cultivating sustained dialogue between contemporary artists and writers. Dallas is pursuing a Master of Visual Studies in Curatorial Studies at the University of Toronto. Their curatorial research is situated at the intersection of trans studies and archival studies.

Queer Trivia: Halloween Edition
2023-10-16 18:00 - 20:45 | Glad Day Bookshop, 499 Church St, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 2C6, Canada
Join us in celebrating all things spooky through queer trivia on Monday, October 16th, at Glad Day Bookshop! This month’s trivia celebrates Halloween.
The first question at 6:00 pm – come early to make sure you get a seat! There’s no cover and no registration required. Teams are encouraged but not necessary. If you don’t already have a team, we’ll match you up with one, or you can take us on solo. Masks will be optional.

Still Brazen: Twenty Years of Queering Femininity - Podcast Launch
2023-10-21 13:00 - 16:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
The foundational femme anthology Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity was published in 2002. Editors Chloë Brushwood Rose and Anna Camilleri curated a collection of prose, poetry, visual art, and theory that explored femme on its own terms and brought us new, complex understandings of femme experience that changed the conversation about queer femininities. Now, twenty years later, original contributors to the collection and emerging femme writers and scholars come together on this podcast to talk about femme’s past, present, and future.
Join us in person at The ArQuives on Saturday, October 21, to celebrate the launch of Still Brazen: Twenty Years of Queering Femininity. Come out for the chance to listen to all six podcast episodes before they’re online, see ephemera from the early days of Brazen Femme, and share your memories of the book and visions of femme’s future.

Pink Triangle Legacies: Coming Out in the Shadow of the Holocaust
2023-10-24 19:00 - 20:00 | Online, Canada
Join The ArQuives on October 24, 2023, at 7 p.m. EST as historian Dr. Jake Newsome tells the dynamic and inspiring history of the LGBTQ2+ community’s original pride symbol by tracing the transformation of the pink triangle from a Nazi concentration camp badge into a widespread emblem of queer liberation, pride, and community. Drawing from archival sources and original interviews, Dr. Newsome showcases the voices of LGBTQ2+ Holocaust victims and a rich tapestry of queer lives who found meaning in the pink triangle in a post-Holocaust world. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Lucas Wilson, ArQuives Board Member.

Bio: Dr. Jake Newsome is a scholar of American and German LGBTQ+ history whose work as a public historian reaches global audiences. He currently works as a museum professional in Washington, DC. You can find him online and on social media at @wjnewsome.

Len and Cub: Exhibition Launch
2023-11-02 19:00 - 21:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
Join us to celebrate the Toronto launch of the Len and Cub exhibition on November 2, 2023, from 7-9.
Leonard “Len” Keith (1891-1950) and Joseph “Cub” Coates (1899-1965) were two young men living in the rural village of Havelock, New Brunswick, who formed a relationship during the early 20th century. While keeping their attraction for each other hidden, they privately captured their relationship via photographs – one of the oldest known surviving photographic records of a same-sex couple in the Maritimes. These remarkable archival images, held at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, are as important socially and historically as they are unique in the photographic canon of eastern Canada.
Curated by Dusty Green and Meredith J Batt and initially organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and the NB Queer Heritage Initiative from April 2, 2022 – July 29, 2022.

Len and Cub: A Queer History
2023-11-02 19:00 - 2023-12-02 17:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
Leonard “Len” Keith (1891-1950) and Joseph “Cub” Coates (1899-1965) were two young men living in the rural village of Havelock, New Brunswick, who formed a relationship during the early 20th century. While keeping their attraction for each other hidden, they privately captured their relationship via photographs – one of the oldest known surviving photographic records of a same-sex couple in the Maritimes. These remarkable archival images, held at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, are as important socially and historically as they are unique in the photographic canon of eastern Canada.

Exhibition Open:
November 2: 7-10 pm Collection Launch
November 3: 1-5 pm
November 4: 1-5 pm
November 10: 1-5 pm
November 11: 1-5 pm
November 18: 1-5 pm
November 24: 1-5 pm
November 25: 1-5 pm
December 1: 1-5 pm
December 2: 1-5 pm FINAL DAY

Curated by Dusty Green and Meredith J Batt and initially organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and the NB Queer Heritage Initiative from April 2, 2022 – July 29, 2022.
Event photo provided by the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

The ArQuives House Tour - November 22, 2023
2023-11-22 18:00 - 19:30 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
Come inside and see what is new! The ArQuives House Tour allows visitors to tour the building and hear more about our collections.
Registration is required.
Please note that The ArQuives is a masked space. If you don’t have a mask, we will provide one to you.

Queer Trivia: Holiday Edition
2023-11-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Glad Day Bookshop, 499 Church St, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 2C6, Canada
Join us in celebrating all things holidays through queer trivia on November 30th at Glad Day Bookshop! This month’s trivia celebrates the holidays.
The first question is at 7:00 pm – come early to ensure you get a seat! There’s no cover and no registration required. Teams are encouraged but not necessary. If you don’t already have a team, we’ll match you up with one, or you can take us on solo. Masks will be optional.

Palestine Solidarity, Cinema & The Archive
2023-12-04 18:00 - 21:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
FOGGY: Palestine Solidarity, Cinema & The Archive

Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space, 4th floor, 401 Richmond St. West
Monday, December 4, 2023
Doors open 6:00 p.m., screening 7:00 p.m. First-come, first seated

Presented by Viral Interventions, Vtape, The Arquives, Toronto Palestine Film Festival, Pal Fest, Trinity Square Video & Archive/Counter-Archive.
Dedicated to the memory of Amy Gottlieb (1954-2023), queer artist and activist extraordinaire, whose lifetime of solidarity with Palestine inspired this screening.
Curated by b.h. Yael, Marc Siegel, Lior Shamriz & John Greyson
How can family memories inform practices of solidarity? How can avant-garde voices engaging the past contribute to activism today? How do private archives queer public histories? How do yesterday’s photographs become tomorrow’s pictures? Foggy is a screening of recent short films that stage hybrid acts of fragmentation, juxtaposition, re-enactment and dialogue. Together they explore themes of queer solidarity with Palestine, as we make our way together through the fog.
SULTANA’S REIGN (Hadi Moussally, 2023, 10:00 min.)
Portrait of a proud Palestinian drag queen, performer and artist, holding court in New York. Hadi Moussally is a Lebanese-French filmmaker whose films have won 50 awards and screened in over 350 international festivals.
HOMECOMING QUEENZ (Elias Wakeem, 2023, 11:00 min.)
Performance artists in drag confront bigoted border guards at Ben Gurion airport. Elias Wakeem is a performance artist exploring themes of identity and resilience through visual storytelling.
LAYLA (Noor Gatih, 2021, 4:00 min.)
A young woman stares out a window as she daydreams about a part of herself that she’s unable to openly express. Noor Gatih is a queer filmmaker who explores family and identity in her work.
TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT (Amy Gottlieb, 1987, 7:00 min.)
Tribute to her radical mother’s activism and solidarity. Amy Gottlieb (1954-2023) was a Toronto queer artist, activist and educator whose lifetime of solidarity with Palestine inspired this screening.
NAZARETH (Mike Hoolboom, 2023, 7:00 min.)
A return to the fateful year of 1948 in Israel, reframed by a single photograph that is taken up one face at a time. MIke Hoolboom is a Toronto artist who writes and makes movies.
MY WHOLE HEART IS WITH YOU (Essa Grayeb, 2022, 9:00 min.)
An experimental video that transforms moments of tension and anticipation from Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s 1967 resignation speech into an emotional journey. Essa Grayeb is a Palestinian visual artist based in Jerusalem whose practice traverses a range of media, primarily photography, moving images and installation.
EVEN A DOG IN BABYLON (Lior Shamriz, 2023, 11:00 min.)
In collaboration with actor Myriam Ali-Ahmad, a radical staging of doubts and debates in a foggy field. Lior Shamriz is a filmmaker and artist based in Santa Cruz, California.
THE POEM WE SANG (Annie Sakkab, 2023, 13:00 min., work-in-progress / sneak preview)
A creative catharsis of post-memory mediated through layers of love, loss, longing, and forced migration. Annie Sakkab is a Toronto-Jordan photojournalist and filmmaker.
Following the screening, the featured artists join co-curators BH Yael & Marc Siegel in conversation.
Image credit: The Poem We Sang, by Annie Sakkab (2023)

Online Queer Trivia: Chosen Family Matters
2024-01-25 20:00 - 22:00 | Online, Canada
A fun night of queer trivia, covering everything to do with families: chosen, biological, tv, historical, pop cultural, celebrity and queer/trans parenting.
Registration required.

The ArQuives House Tour - February 21, 2024
2024-02-21 18:00 - 19:30 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada

Book Launch: Maurice Vellekoop - I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together
2024-02-27 18:00 - 20:00 | TPL Lillian H. Smith Branch, 239 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R5, Canada
Join The ArQuives, Toronto Public Library and Random House Canada for the book launch of Maurice Vellekoop’s autobiographical graphic novel, I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together; an epic graphic memoir about a queer illustrator surviving his intensely Christian childhood in 1970s Toronto.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
If you identify as a person with a disability and require an accessibility accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Accessibility Services by email, accessibleservices@tpl.ca, or voicemail, 416-393-7099, to make a request. Please contact us at least three weeks in advance.
Presented in partnership with Random House Canada and Toronto Public Library
MAURICE VELLEKOOP was born in 1964 in a suburb of Toronto. A prolific artist and illustrator, he has worked non-stop for the last three decades. I’M SO GLAD WE HAD THIS TIME TOGETHER is an enthralling portrait of what it means to be true to yourself, to learn to forgive, and to be an artist. An astonishing, epic graphic memoir in the spirit of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, Maurice’s Vellekoop is the rarest of things: moving, funny, and triumphant.
“Maurice Vellekoop’s beautiful graphic memoir feels painfully honest. It’s about art and life and families and belief, about who we are and what forms us, the magic and the hurt, and it evokes times that are well-lost while reminding us of the battles still being fought every day. Most of all, I think, it’s about love.” —Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman.

The ArQuives House Tour - March 3rd, 2024
2024-03-03 14:00 - 15:00 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada

The ArQuives House Tour - March 13, 2024
2024-03-13 18:00 - 19:30 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada

Queer Trivia: Movie Edition
2024-03-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Glad Day Bookshop, 499 Church St, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 2C6, Canada
Join us in celebrating all things movies through queer trivia on March 14, 2024 at Glad Day Bookshop! This month’s trivia celebrates movies.
The first question is at 7:00 pm – come early to ensure you get a seat! There’s no cover and no registration required. Teams are encouraged but not necessary. If you don’t already have a team, we’ll match you up with one, or you can take us on solo. Masks will be optional.

The ArQuives House Tour - March 24, 2024
2024-03-24 14:00 - 15:30 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada

Chasing Rainbows: 2SLGBTQ+ in Library Collections
2024-03-26 18:30 - 20:00 | Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 2G8, Canada
Toronto Public Library Presents: Chasing Rainbows: 2SLGBTQ+ in Library Collections
What’s at stake when queer stories are silenced? Increasingly, 2SLGBTQ+ materials are disproportionately censored or challenged. How can libraries, authors, educators, and communities work together to defend against the attacks to erase queer lives?
Children’s book author, Dylan Glynn, TPL’s Director of Collections and Membership Services, Lisa Radha Vohra, Executive Director of The ArQuives, Raegan Swanson, and TDSB’s Shauna Thomas, join James Turk, Director of the Centre for Free Expression, to explore the intersections of intellectual freedom and 2SLGBTQ+ written works from academic, historical, cultural, public library, school and artist perspectives.
How does our society ensure queer stories continue to thrive and how do we protect the voices of marginalized people? How do each of us ensure that libraries remain welcoming spaces for all?

This event is part of our new series exploring what’s at stake when intellectual freedom is threatened. Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on March 5 at 9:00 am ET.

About this event’s guests:

Dylan Glynn, Children’s Book Author and Illustrator (Rain Boy)
Lisa Radha Vohra, Directors, Collections and Membership Services, Toronto Public Library
Raegan Swanson, Executive Director, The ArQuives
Shauna Thomas, Secondary Teacher, Toronto District School Board Triangle Program

Moderated by James Turk, Director, Centre for Free Expression, The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:
Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

The ArQuives House Tour - April 14, 2024
2024-04-14 14:00 - 15:30 | The ArQuives, 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1N1, Canada
Come inside and see what is new! The ArQuives House Tour allows visitors to tour the building and hear more about our collections.
Admission is free, but registration is required.
Please note that The ArQuives is a masked space. If you don’t have a mask, we will provide one to you.
