Strategies for Survival (1986) is an archives project produced by UNIT/PITT Society for Art and Critical Awareness, re-presenting the partial proceedings of Strategies for Survival: State of the Arts/The Art of Alternatives, An International Conference for Artists, organized by the Vancouver Artists League, and held at the Commodore Ballroom, June 9th, 10, and 11th, 1986.
In 1986, the conference was recorded on cassette tape, and the speakers’ papers were distributed to conference participants, with a few even published later on, making their way into archives and libraries, formal and less so. This project began when some of these cassettes and papers were found in the UNIT/PITT archives by our volunteer Archives Committee, who proposed to make these partial proceedings freely available online, as a catalyst for further research and discussion. Funded by the BC History Digitization Program at the University of British Columbia, the audio recordings were digitized by the Western Front, with research supported by artists and community members near and far, and UNIT/PITT will share the digitized audio recordings, supplemented by contemporary readings, and textural and edited transcripts, starting June 9 and through the summer.
June 9, day 1
- 00 โ๏ธ Introduction (2023)
transcript and audio - 01 โณ Introduction (1986)
transcript and audio - 02 ๐ฉ๐ช Dr. Thomas Deecke (West Germany)
transcript and audio - โ๏ธ coffee break โ๏ธ
- 03 ๐ฏ๐ต Tatsuo Yamamoto (Japan)
transcript and audio - ๐ฅช Out to Lunch ๐ฅช
- 04 ๐ง๐ช Guy Schraenen (Belgium)
transcript and audio - 05 ๐บ๐ธ Judy Moran (USA)
transcript and audio - 06 ๐ณ๐ฎ Eye of the Mask, a film by Judith Doyle (Toronto)
transcript and audio - ๐ท wine and cheese ๐ง
June 10, day 2
- 07 ๐ต๐ฑ Jerzy Onuch, POLAND
transcript and audio - โ๏ธ coffee break โ๏ธ
- 08 ๐จ๐ฆ Clive Robertson, CANADA
transcript and audio - ๐ฅ out for lunch ๐ญ
- 09 โข๏ธ A Twentieth Century Plague, “B” Artists, a performance by Oraf (Vancouver)
transcript and audio - 10 ๐ธ๐ป Josรฉ Ventura (El Salvador)
transcript and audio - 11 ๐จ๐ฆ Canadian Sponsor Panel, facilitated by Rosa Ho, Director, Surrey Art Gallery
transcript and audio
June 11, day 3
- 12 ๐ฌ๐ง Margaret Harrison (Britain)
transcript and audio - โ๏ธ coffee break โ๏ธ
- 13 ๐ณ๐ฑ Wilma De Jong (Netherlands)
transcript and audio - ๐ฏ out for lunch ๐
- 14 โฃ๏ธ Position: suspended (11), a performance by Mona Hatoum (Beirut/London), continuing to the end of the conference
transcript and audio - 15 ๐ Keith Kelly, Department of Communications, on the “Status of the Artist”
transcript and audio - โ๏ธ coffee break โ๏ธ
- 16 ๐ณ๏ธ Artists’ Summation Panel, facilitated by Danielle Peacock, grunt gallery
transcript and audio - XX ๐ Closing remarks (2023)