CELAFI 1992 & 1997 Conference / Festivals in Celebration of African Identity brought together academics, artists, advocates and patrons from across Canada and around the world to present, represent and challenge each other in public discussion.

 

 Twenty five years later we celebrated in conjunction with Canada's 150th and introduced the start-up collection of CELAFI artifacts designated for the home of CELAFI'25 Digital Archive, a repository dedicated to collecting, preserving and making publically available data that evidences the artistic achievements of Canada’s National community of Black Artists and their impact on Canadian culture.

​

The archive will `look back` commemorating and documenting what was, in 1992 & 1997, an explosive tour de force of creativity by Black Artists from many of Canada`s provinces, and their international contemporaries that filled a collective ten official days with music, dance, theatre, fashion, visual art, literature, oral tradition, body adorning wearable art, film and video, forums and workshops, and the ongoing creative output those events have manifested since.

 

Then 'move forward' building a muscular digital archive dedicate to the artistry of the Black Canadian Artist then and now.