VIVO Media Arts Centre Archive > Women’s Labour History Project

The Women’s Labour History Project

About

The Women’s Labour History Project (WLHP), 1978-1995, was a non-profit society founded and led by Sara Diamond and supported by a dynamic group of women such as feminist activist and Amelia Productions member,Billie Carroll; Jennifer Brock Abbott (The Corporation); artist, policy maker, and thought leader, Zainub Verjee, and many others.

The WLHP was initially inspired by the need for role models that arose during the wave of B.C. feminist union organizing in the 1970s and 1980s. It was committed to uncovering the historical roles women played within labour organizations and working-class communities. The WLHP combined archival research, oral histories, and contextual, primary and secondary ethnographic and historical research. Its outputs included the first annotated bibliography of resources for women’s labour in B.C. located in archives throughout the province; as well as publications, single-channel video, media installations, photographic exhibitions, television programs, radio series, curriculum, workshops and presentations. The WLHP was known for its creative and experimental approaches to video, combining traditional documentary treatments, docudrama, and archival images; remediation strategies that now dominate discussions regarding archival resources and new media.

See Writings for an introduction to WLHP and its productions.

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