Archives as Sites of Black Joy
What would it mean for us to reimagine the Archives – not as mechanisms for whiteness and control, but as sanctuaries for liberation and as generators of continuity? What if Archives were nesting places for revolutionary Black joy?
Building on her imagination practice, Archivist Melissa J. Nelson shares the development of a radical grassroots Black activist archive for Wildseed Centre for Art + Activism as grounds for possibilities. Melissa invites us to expand our imagination beyond the confines of colonial imaginaries to build reparative archives of multiplicity. Black archives have the potential to create sacred space for holding, re-witnessing, and remembering Black life. These spaces can open gateways for visioning Black futurities.
The workshop is part of the symposium Black Atlantic Networks: Heritage, Knowledge and Solidarity, taking place in Montréal from November 18 to 22, 2025. The symposium fosters transnational dialogue and creates a space for the co-construction of knowledge.
Information
Presented by Melissa J. Nelson
Free activity in English, presented on Friday, November 21, from 5:00 to 6 p.m.
Duration: 60 minutes
Location:Goethe-Institut Montreal, 1626 Boulevard Saint-Laurent
About the facilitator
Melissa J. Nelson
Melissa J. Nelson is an award-winning archivist and educator working in the field of Black archival practice. Her work centers Black being and belonging in the Archives to support collective healing and liberation movements. She is guided by critical and creative praxis to reimagine the Archives as sites of Black joy. Melissa is the Founder and Creative Director of the Black Memory Collective. She is also the Creator and Host of the podcast, Archives & Things. Melissa holds a Master of Information Studies from McGill University. She received a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History, with a minor in Sociology, from Carleton University.
Photo © Anthony Gebrehiwot