The Paul Good Papers: Atlanta Reels

Deanna Bowen

A collaborative act of testimony and witnessing, The Paul Good Papers: Atlanta Reels dramatizes audio recordings from Atlanta’s civil rights era, made at the time by ABC’s Southern Bureau Chief, Paul Good. Combining archival audio with performance, video and web archives, the piece provides a platform for the audience to witness and add their memories of historic events. Actor Marci T. House performs alongside fifty year-old recordings from sit-ins in downtown Atlanta in November 1963 and January-March 1964. Handbills and business cards distributed during the night direct viewers to current documentation of the protests’ locations. The piece points to connections between historical and present day struggles and protests.

About the Artist

Toronto-based interdisciplinary artist Deanna Bowen is a descendant of the Alabama and Kentucky born Black Prairie pioneers of Amber Valley and Campsie, Alberta. Her work has been shown in film festivals and exhibitions internationally, including the Images Festival of Film, Video & New Media, Gallery 44, the Kassel Documentary Film & Video Festival, Oberhausen Film Festival, Nasher Museum of Contemporary Art at Duke University, Pier 21: Canadian Museum of Immigration, and the Art Gallery of York University.