Cheryl Sim's Un jour, Un jour: Imagining potential futures in the fragmented archives of Expo67

Abstract

This article looks at the historical and national fantasies produced by the reactivation of archival records during the 50th anniversary celebrations of Expo67 in Montreal, Canada. By asking whose “memories” were put on display during the month-long festivities, this text addresses the many ways power, national identity and memories intertwine in archival institutions and highlights the dynamics and logics of archival encounters. To complicate this claim, this article then shifts to a close reading of Cheryl Sim’s video project Un jour, un jour, produced for the anniversary by Montreal’s contemporary art museum, in order to demonstrate that using records that have affective and personal value can help us imagine better collective futures.