Active Grieving: The Aesthetic Activism of ACT UP Montréal

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Active Grieving: The Aesthetic Activism of ACT UP Montréal
Abstract
The author notes that much of the historical record on HIV/AIDS activism focuses on the highly documented activities of ACT UP/NY while silencing the work and achievements of other chapters and organizations also operating at the height of the crisis. He points out that following the 1989 AIDS Conference in Montreal, a local chapter christened ACT UP Montréal was co-founded by ACT UP/NY’s Blane Charles the following year. Equally vibrant, the graphic ephemera of ACT UP Montréal—posters, protest signs, pamphlets, manifestation documentation and T-shirts—demonstrates activist voices deserving of similar in-depth analysis. The author’s thesis reveals a multifaceted microhistory of localized reaction (both Francophone and Anglophone) to an international pandemic. The thesis builds on the increasing literature and academic discourse on the many groups that made revolutionary changes during this era. He argues that this work connects activism history, art history, oral history, archival history, and object analysis to contextualize better known HIV/AIDS activist imagery and show the foundational differences between ACT UP Montréal and other activist groups.
Type
M.A. thesis
University
Concordia University
Place
Montreal
Date
2025
# of Pages
viii-157p.
URL
Language
en
Citation
Hamilton, Mark Andrew. “Active Grieving: The Aesthetic Activism of ACT UP Montréal.” M.A. thesis, Concordia University, 2025. https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/996075/1/Hamilton_MA_S2025.pdf.
Find in a library
Permalink