Installation of Austin Henderson: Talking to Papou at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, June 2026. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
This virtual workshop will explore the possibilities and limits of archival research as it relates to artistic practice. Using his experience in drawing from private (familial) and public archives, Austin Henderson will discuss how archival collections can be used to in artwork to prompt questions that are often left outside of documented histories.
Guiding participants through the basics of archival research, Austin will also share his methods for going beyond the archival record. What stories are left out and why? How can we see between the archive, exploring speculative histories?
Tailored for artists, writers, and creative researchers, this workshop invites participants to bring their works-in-progress, offering time for reflection on archival materials, be they photos, written documents, or other ephemera.
In the month of November, Austin Henderson is participating in a visual arts residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Titled “On Other Archives,” the residency brings together artists and artist mentors who are currently working with institutional, personal, fictional and/or speculative archives. Drawing from his ongoing projects, and this exciting educational opportunity, Austin will lead this virtual workshop from his Banff residency studio and share reflections that have come out of his experience.
This event is free and open to everyone.
Please register to attend. If there is anything we can do to support your participation, please reach out to Hannah at [email protected].
Austin Henderson is an artist, writer, and cultural worker based in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang (Montréal) with familial roots in Oshawa, Ontario. Working in drawing, painting, printmaking, and textiles, Henderson’s practice engages with public and private archives in order to question concealed histories and reclaim joyful futures. Family photo albums, diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings are points of departure to bridge the past with the present. Interested in the effects of queer shame and secrecy as it relates to the AIDS crisis, his work considers the imperfections of the family archive and the futility of memory. Through replication and translation, he envisions an alternative space where truth and fiction hold equal weight. Henderson’s work has been presented across Canada and the United States, and his writing has appeared in publications such as Esse arts + opinions and Visual Arts News. He has participated in residencies with The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Union House Arts, Momus, and the New York Academy of Art. Henderson holds an MA in Art History from Concordia University and a BFA from Queen’s University.
