Amid ongoing digitization efforts and increasing audiovisual production at the CCA, Audible Archives is an exploration of sound recordings in the collection. Reflecting the historical visual bias of architecture, most of the CCA’s holdings consist of prints and drawings—some dating back to the fifteenth century—and photography, dating from the invention of the medium onward. By comparison, audio media form a smaller and less stable category, even as sound technology has developed rapidly over the past century and continued to evolve in the decades since the CCA’s founding. Formats including vinyl records, open-reel tapes, 8-track and compact cassettes, compact discs, and others are dispersed throughout the library and archives; however, issues such as obsolete equipment and copyright restrictions often limit access to these materials.

Audible Archives presents samples of digitized recordings alongside silent artefacts, highlighting sound as a significant medium for research while drawing attention to the challenges of preservation and stewardship. Through a series of case studies, the exhibition contextualizes audio technology within the culture and production of architecture. Listening to the collection becomes a method of tracing the mediated figure of the modern architect, amplifying socially engaged and ecologically attuned documentary practices, and examining how broadcast and information technologies shape the politics of space.

Audible Archives is the result of a series of conversations between David Stevenson, Conservator; Irene Chin, Curator of Contemporary Architecture; Charlie-Anne Côté and Laura Aparicio Llorente, Curatorial Assistants

Conservation: David Stevenson and Audrey Lafond
Design development: Sébastien Larivière and Anh Truong

The CCA gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Conseil des arts de Montréal.