About the exhibit: The Power of IMAGeNation: materials from the Indigenous Media Arts Group archive

The Indigenous Media Arts Group, or IMAG (pronounced “image”), was a Vancouver-based organization founded in early 1998 to promote the development and dissemination of Indigenous media, arts, and culture.

IMAG organized the highly successful IMAGeNation Aboriginal Film and Video Festival, which was held annually in Vancouver from 1998 to 2006. Early festival included works produced, written or directed by Indigenous media makers from Canada. By the 2000s, the festival received submissions from Indigenous media makers from around the world.

In order to bring Indigenous film to rural communities in British Columbia, IMAG organized a traveling film festival that was held in Prince Rupert, Duncan and Enderby in 1999 and 2005.

Members of IMAG facilitated workshops and training programs in media and administration, and operated a resource centre for Indigenous people, access information about media arts, and equipment for film and video making.

IMAG held its first media training program in 2000 and continued to offer training in subsequent years, including themed training programs, such “Healing Hands: Voices of Resistance” and “Repatriation: Returning Home” in 2004-2005.

What's on display

The exhibit includes:

• publicity materials
• photographs
• film festival programs
• materials related to the administration of the organization
• objects, including a t-shirt and an award!

Material is selected from:

• MsC-209 Indigenous Media Arts Group fonds

Want to view more materials from the collection? Check out the IMAGeNation digitized collection on SFU Digitized Collections!