How can librarians support and commemorate student-led protests? This timely topic will be considered in the context of recent protests and encampments, while keeping in mind lessons learned from protests dating back to the 1970s.
Vociférer par l’image : les affiches du Printemps érable Speakers : Catherine Ratelle-Montemiglio, Catherine Bernier
En droite ligne avec la thématique du congrès ARLIS/NA 2026, soit la résistance, cette présentation aura pour objectif de présenter deux corpus d’affiches créés durant le mouvement étudiant de 2012. Surnommé le « Printemps érable », ce mouvement étudiant s’est formé d’abord pour lutter contre la hausse des droits de scolarité, pour par la suite embrasser des préoccupations sociétales plus larges. Les affiches sélectionnées pour cette présentation sont celles créées par le collectif de l’École de la Montagne rouge ainsi que par l’artiste Clément de Gaulejac. Ces corpus sont conservés par une institution patrimoniale, au sein d’une collection d’affiches regroupant plusieurs milliers de documents. Nous aborderons les enjeux d’acquisition et de conservation liés à ces documents éphémères. Nous présenterons également le corpus du point de vue du graphisme et de leur condition de création, soit dans l’urgence d’un mouvement politique. Nous souhaitons également aborder des sujets plus larges, comme la place des documents politiques et militants dans les collections institutionnelles. Archiving Potential History: Pop-up Art Libraries and the 2024 Student Protest Encampments Speaker: Maggie McLaughlin
This presentation uses the 2024 student protest encampments for Palestine liberation as a lens to activate the art library’s potential for resistance, social justice work, and student activism. In particular, this presentation concerns one specific encampment at a large public university and its combination art tent, zine collection, and pop-up library that sat at the center of the camp. This triangulation established the space as one of creativity, critical inquiry, and mutual aid, leading to a series of interdisciplinary teach-ins with collaborations between teaching faculty and university librarians. Rooted in this case study, this presentation considers the generative entanglement between art libraries, student activism, and information literacy. This presentation views art libraries as sites full of possibility and potential to document and archive a history of diversity and dissent. It offers activating the art library as a space of messiness and movement, bringing together the study and practice of art in ways that help students assess their own critical and ethical engagement with the contemporary information landscape, especially as relates to social justice.
Art Students’ Resistance: Studying the Past, Informing the Future Speaker: Rachel Resnik
In 1970 students across the United States held protests to oppose the Vietnam War. On May 4th at Kent State University four students were killed and nine others were injured during one such protest. Twenty-eight National Guard troops had fired 67 rounds of bullets at the protesting students.
Already involved in the anti-war movement and enraged by the killings at Kent State, Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt) joined a national student strike. Classes were canceled and faculty and students engaged in community service projects. The most enduring project, The Graphic Workshop, operated from 1970-1992. Over its two decades in operation, the Workshop produced hundreds of silk-screened posters with styles and subjects reflecting the group’s changing priorities. The MassArt Archive holds many examples of Graphic Workshop posters; 162 examples are now available in the JStor Image Library.
The similarities between the state of affairs in 1970 and those today are striking. How can the work created in the early Seventies by the Graphic Workshop inform our interactions with students today? How can these posters inspire us to use our fear and frustration to make works of resistance that are meaningful, beautiful, and enduring?
