The Cinémathèque québécoise and the Daniel Langlois Foundation
arrange to ensure the conservation and accessibility of the
Foundation’s collection
Montreal, October 11, 2011 – The Cinémathèque québécoise and the
Daniel Langlois Foundation are pleased to announce a historic
collaboration whereby the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art,
Science and Technology is donating its collection to the
Cinémathèque, which will conserve it and make it accessible to the
public. The database of the collection, henceforth to be known as
the Daniel Langlois Foundation Collection of the Cinémathèque
québécoise, will now be available online on the Cinémathèque’s
website so as to be readily accessible to students, researchers and
the general public, at the following address:
http://collections.cinematheque.qc.ca/langlois
The Daniel Langlois Foundation’s impressive collection
accessioned by the Cinémathèque québécoise comprises thousands of
audiovisual documents, books, monographs, catalogues, equipment and
devices, software, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs and artefacts. Primarily
documentary in nature, the collection is internationally recognized
as one of the most comprehensive in its field. “This is undoubtedly
the year’s most significant acquisition since it’s a very concrete
way for us to express our interest in the many new types of moving
images and to reflect the importance of new media in our
collections. We thank Daniel Langlois for his generosity and trust,”
said Yolande Racine, Executive Director of the Cinémathèque. “I’m
very enthusiastic about donating this much-cherished collection
containing a multitude of documents of considerable artistic and
historical importance. The Cinémathèque is the ideal place for
conserving all the elements of the collection and making them
accessible in perpetuity,” added Daniel Langlois, founder of
Softimage and Ex-Centris and a noted patron of the arts. In addition
to the collection, the Foundation is also donating $75,000 over the
next three years.
An internationally recognized collection
The Daniel Langlois Foundation Collection of the Cinémathèque
québécoise documents the meeting of arts and technology during the
period from 1960 to 2010 and the many different art forms resulting
from this intersection. Also included in the Foundation’s donation
is the database cataloguing the collection, along with its digital
archives and websites associated with the technological arts from
this period. All told, the collection includes:
- 2,691 audiovisual elements, master tapes and video copies in a
variety of formats;
- 764 audio documents;
- A library consisting of 6,834 books, monographs, conference
proceedings, essays, specialized periodicals and catalogues;
- 2,084 files on artists, organizations and international events
(festivals, biennials, etc.);
- Equipment and devices, computers, historic software and
artefacts;
- Interactive CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs and narrative and non-fiction
works by international artists.
Some of the collection’s key archival holdings are:
- The Vasulka Archive, created by Steina and Woody Vasulka,
pioneers of video art and of the analog and digital processing of
video images, who co-founded the Kitchen (New York, 1971);
- The 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering audiovisual
collection (New York, 1966), documenting works by artists such as
Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage and Lucinda Childs, donated by
Billy Klüver;
- The collection of Quebec video art pioneer Jean-Pierre Boyer;
- The Images du futur collection, donated by Hervé
Fischer, co-founder of this annual multimedia event (Montreal);
- The archives of the International Symposium on Electronic Art
(ISEA) held in Montreal in 1995;
- Colour photographs of drawings and of one of the sketchbooks
of the famous Soviet filmmaker Sergei M. Eisenstein;
- Films on kinetic artist and scientist Frank J. Malina, founder
of the journal Leonardo;
- Archival holdings on the art and work of Sonia Landy Sheridan,
creator of one of the first educational programs in the United
States dedicated to exploring technological systems.
The Cinémathèque québécoise is Montreal's museum of moving
images. Its mission is to preserve and promote the world's
audiovisual heritage, with an emphasis on Quebec and Canadian works
and international animation, and to make it available for
educational and cultural purposes.
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Contact: Catherine Vien-Labeaume, Media Relations and Promotions
Agent
514-842-9768, ext. 255 – cvienlabeaume @
cinematheque.qc.ca
Cinémathèque québécoise – 335 de Maisonneuve
Blvd East, Montreal (Metro: Berri-UQAM)
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