Looking Forward/Looking Back: Portraits as archival testimony is the title of The ArQuives’s exhibit in the Legislative Gallery, Queen’s Park, Toronto, part of the Community Exhibits Program to be on display to the public from January to June 2013 Our exhibit focuses on four of the portraits commissioned for the first exhibition of the National Portrait Collection of The ArQuives in 1988: Shani Mootoo, Richard Fung, Makeda Silvera, and Shyam Selvadurai. In addition, there are books, posters, clippings, videos, and promotional materials associated with these writers, video artists and activists. The National Portrait Collection is a central part of our archival holdings. We commission portraits to honour individuals who have made significant contributions to the growth of LGBT communities in Canada. The collection was established in 1998 with 25 original portraits, and coincided with our 25th anniversary. Since then, the collection has grown to 70 portraits in various media including photography, oil and watercolour.
