We Are Connected
Collaborative Audio Archiving in Toronto’s Queer Activist Community
Mairead Stewart
Project Description
The purpose of this study was to critique the ways the 2SLGBTQ+ community has historically been marginalized in research and archiving practices. Using queer methodologies of community-building, this project provided an arena for queer arts-based activists to collectively design and create an online audio archive accessible to the wider Toronto community. Queer artist/activists in the GTA were invited to participate in a multi-session virtual experience. QR code stickers will be placed around Toronto, inviting the public to visit the website archive for six months, after which the archive will be housed in a queer archive. Findings indicate that treating participants as research collaborators and encouraging cooperation among the group results in a safer and more empowering environment for the participants and myself as a researcher. The project seeks to address the issue that Queer people, especially Black and Indigenous queer people, are often misrepresented in– or absent from– traditional archives.
BIO
Mairead Stewart (they/them) is a queer and trans artist and designer working in Toronto. Their work explores themes of collaboration, archiving, and storytelling in the queer community. Mairead currently holds a BA in Multimedia studies from McMaster University and is currently completing an MA in Digital Futures from OCAD University. As well as a professional graphic designer, Mairead is a founding member of the queer theatre collective MAT and has worked with FemTechNet and various other groups as a research assistant. You can connect with Mairead at www.maireadstewart.com.