Radical Curating, Black Community Archives and the Sir George Williams Affair

Abstract

This article explores strategies employed in the 2019 archival exhibition Protests and Pedagogy: Representations Meanings and Memories. The exhibition was organized to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Sir George Williams Affair, when Canadian students protested racism in the classroom at Concordia University. Using the curatorial process as a case study in radical pedagogy allows a rare glimpse into the archival records of the 1969 event. The case demonstrates ways in which an engaged approach to curating connects with the building of a community archive that enables a rereading of these events. The exhibition’s pedagogical practices allow reflection on alternative methodologies that challenge teaching-learning through community dialogue.