This year’s John Seltzer and Mark Seltzer Memorial Lecture is a conversation about Black memory. What does Black memory look like, sound like, feel like? How does Black memory inhabit and reshape space?

Black memory lives, breathes, and moves with the people. It is a rhythm that beats with purpose – a sound of refusal and a spirit of disruption that plants seeds for new possibilities. Black place-making is the creation and holding of memories. It is a radical rupture of colonial imaginaries through the re-remembering, architecting, and troubling of space. The ways in which Black communities have, and continue, to occupy space offer us powerful pathways to envision the futures we want to see, starting now.

Melissa J. Nelson is an award-winning archivist, educator, and community connector based in Toronto, Canada. Her work centres Black being and belonging in the archives to support collective healing and liberation movements. She is guided by critical and creative praxis to reimagine the Archives as sites of Black joy. Melissa has worked with notable clients such as Harvard University, Library and Archives Canada, ARMA International, and the Association of Canadian Archivists, among others.

Aaron T. Francis is a community archivist, curator and the founder of Vintage Black Canada—an archive seeking to document the transnational modern history of the African Diaspora in Canada, often with specific reference to Aaron’s hometown of Kitchener-Waterloo. As a PhD Candidate in the Global Governance program at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Aaron’s research examines the political economy of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the Caribbean.

Shane Laptiste’s architectural practice focuses on community-informed design that responds thoughtfully to the cultural and spatial needs of those it serves. With a particular emphasis on the spatial and environmental dynamics of Black communities, Shane brings a deep commitment to fostering inclusive and meaningful spaces. A licensed architect in Ontario and Quebec, he holds both a BSc(Arch) and an MArch degree from McGill University, where he also teaches as a studio instructor.

Tura Cousins Wilson is inspired by creating uplifting spaces of beauty. He contends that architecture’s power lies in its ability to transform collective imaginations and narratives into reality. His design methodology leverages historical and cultural research and is drawn towards the redemptive qualities of reconstituting existing buildings & overlooked communities.

The John Seltzer and Mark Seltzer Memorial Lecture was endowed by Dorene Seltzer in memory of her husband and son. Since 1999, this lecture series has featured presentations by internationally recognized collectors, rare book dealers, librarians, and scholars on the various aspects of book collecting.

Please register each attendee individually. If you require any special accommodations, please get in touch with us at fisher.events@utoronto.ca.

Seltzer Lecture: Reclaiming Black Memory, Forging Black Possibilities

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