Categories: announcements & updates New to Rise Up: Exhibits, Films & Articles May 8, 2025 | Rise Up Collective In addition to an expanded archival collection, the redesigned Rise Up website features plenty of new non-archival content, including thematic exhibits, contemporary films, and a revamped Rise Up News section. Let’s take a look! Exhibits These curated presentations bring together materials from across the Rise Up archive to provide insight into different facets of feminist organizing from the 1970s to 1990s. With the new website now launched, you can expect to see this section expand to include a more extensive and diverse range of issues and themes. Here are two recent additions: Feminism & Environmental Activism This exhibit delves into the history of ecofeminism, environmental justice, and Indigenous land defense in Canada’s women’s movements from the 1970s to 1990s. Weaving together archival film and excerpts from feminist periodicals, the exhibit covers a range of topics, from anti-nuclear activism in Northern Ontario, to the impacts of PCBs on Inuit women, to the rise of goddess spirituality. Women’s Disability Activism This exhibit features a cross-section of materials on women’s disability activism in Canada. Highlights include the DisAbled Women’s Network (DAWN), HealthSharing—a women’s magazine that resisted the biomedical model of healthcare—and Still Sane, a sculpture series and art book by Sheila Gilhooly on her experiences of being forced into psychiatric institutions for being a lesbian. Contemporary Films We’ve added a brand new section with dozens of contemporary films that showcase the vibrancy and multiplicity of feminist activism in Canada and its intersections with LGBTQ+ activism, movements against racism and colonialism, and more. Although not created during this era, many of the films include archival footage and feature interviews with those involved. This short film tells the story of gender-queer singer Jackie Shane, who took Toronto’s jazz music scene by storm in the 1960s, and the Sapphire Tavern on Yonge Street, where Shane recorded her hit album. This is one of eight films from the Queerstory project featured on the Rise Up website, with the permission of Michael Alstad, Director. Tilco Striker is the story of women workers in a Peterborough, Ontario plastics factory who unionized and struck in the mid-1960s against harassment and low wages. The strike led to an infamous injunction against the strikers, while highlighting the problems of a labour movement dominated by men but with increasing numbers of women in its ranks. Feature Articles & News Our redesigned Rise Up News section uses thematic tags, making it easier than ever to browse dozens of feature articles by guest writers and Rise Up volunteers on topics ranging from Indigenous feminisms, to immigrant women’s organizing, to lesbian mothers fighting for custody of their children. Many of these pieces highlight links between past struggles and today’s issues and activism. Author Rise Up Collective View all posts
