Oral history interview with Joan E. Biren
name: label: Interviewer
content: Cvetkovich, Ann, 1957-
topic: label: Occupation
content: Photographers -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Occupation
content: Filmmakers -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women photographers
label: Topic
content: Artists (LGBTQ)
label: Topic
content: Activists (LGBTQ)
label: Topic
content: Women filmmakers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewer
content: Cvetkovich, Ann, 1957-
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Interviewee Joan E. Biren (1944-) also known as JEB, is a photographer, activist, and filmmaker who has recorded lesbian life as well as making its history visible. Born in Washington, DC, Biren shared archival research into LGBTQ+ photographic life through a traveling show in the 1970s and 80s alongside her own documentation of queer life. She now lives and works in Silver Spring, MD.
label: Biographical / Historical
content: Interviewer Ann Cvetkovich (1957- ) is the Director of the Pauline Jewett Institute of Women's and Gender Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa and was previously a Professor at UT Austin; her work investigates the dynamics between affect and queerness.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Items (audiovisual files (3 hrs., 27 min.), digital, mp4)
phystech: label: Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
content: Recorded on Zoom (videoconferencing software)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2024 May 14 and 24
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.biren24
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Video recordings
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview with Joan E. Biren conducted 2024 May 14 and 24, by Ann Cvetkovich for the Archives of American Art, at Biren's home in Silver Spring, Maryland.­