Archiving Radical Joy

Radical Joy is the deep, deliberate act of embracing joy—especially in the face of systems that seek to suppress, marginalize, or erase. It’s not passive or escapist; it’s defiant, political, and powerful.

Archiving Radical Joy is a living archive of Montreal’s ballroom community— the cultural heartbeat of the city, powered by fierce joy, chosen family, and unapologetic self-expression.

Archiving Radical Joy’s purpose is to preserve moments in times where people have gathered and reclaimed space through the radical embodiment of Joy, and to fundamentally affect the space and the people that witness the moment, past, future and present.

Each frame is a portal—a glimpse into the beauty, resilience, and brilliance that thrives in the margins of the city of Montreal.

This is joy as resistance. Joy as memory. Joy as a map forward.

ARCHIVING JOY

For Black Gxrl Sesh’s 4th Anniversary, I assembled a magazine to commemorate and bring to material form
A COLLECTION OF MEMORIES AND WORDS
from Black Trans, Queer, and Femme contributors.

Photos and poems by ‍:
amandine, Athina's Moon, Joys Sekpon, MOON, Victoria Anne Jean-Francois, Waltz Louboutin