Vtape’s mission is to advocate for the visibility and recognition of Canadian video art, to effectively distribute this work, and to serve and support the producers of this unique art form. We consider our organization to be custodians of the works we distribute, and are committed to caring for and making them available for public presentation, acquisition, and research purposes over the long term. Vtape also supports the field of video art by collecting specialized research materials and making them available to the public, and by presenting public programming and publishing critical writing that increases the understanding and recognition of the form.

Vtape’s mission is to generate income for the widest diversity of independent artists from the distribution of their work. This has resulted in more than $5.4 million in distribution revenues earned over the organization’s lifetime (to July 2024), of which $3.87 million (71.6%) has been paid out to artists. Of total distribution royalties paid to Vtape artists over 40+ years, 35% were paid out during the past decade alone.

The organization has focused on the distribution needs of Indigenous artists in particular since before 1994, when Vtape co-founded the imagineNATIVE Festival of Film + Media Arts, with whom we continue to collaborate annually. Works by Indigenous artists are among the most active represented in our distribution catalogue.

Vtape strives to fairly represent the diversity of Canadian society in its video catalogue, its public programming, and its governance. Vtape’s public programming and critical writing frequently foreground the work of artists of colour, Indigenous artists, LGBTQ2SIA+ artists, and others from marginalized communities. Partnerships with the Centre for the Study of Black Canadian Diaspora at OCAD University, the Centre for Aboriginal Media, and other community-based organizations, such as Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Toronto Queer Film Festival, Toronto Palestine Film Festival, Media City Film Festival, et al., keep us connected and responsible to the many communities we serve.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF INDIGENOUS LAND AND SOVEREIGNTY

Vtape acknowledges that Indigenous peoples are the original occupants of this land. Vtape supports the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and is committed to furthering the visibility and understanding of Indigenous art forms and cultural expression.

Incorporated in 1983, Vtape is located in Tkaronto (Toronto), on the lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit River, the Anishinaabe, the Haundenosaunee Confederacy, and the Wendat. Tkaronto is in the “Dish With One Spoon” territory, which refers to a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that binds them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, Europeans, and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect.

We acknowledge the traditional territories of Indigenous nations in Canada and worldwide, and their continuing connection to the land, water, and community. We pay our respect to them and their cultures, and to the elders both past and present.

Within the field of media production, Vtape supports the goals and protocols represented by the imagineNATIVE / Indigenous Screen Office document On-Screen Protocols and Pathways.

COMMITMENT TO PACBI

Vtape is proud to join more than 70 cultural organizations across Canada in endorsing PACBI: the Palestinian Campaign for the Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel.

As a video distributor, Vtape has always championed artist-created, non-commercial works, many of which engage with human rights issues and marginalized cultural representations, including LGBTQ+, feminist, and Indigenous worldviews. Continuing this organizational tradition, we are responding to the call coming from Palestinian civil society since 2005 for cultural organizations around the world to support the wider Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in an effort to end the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories and the related apartheid system upholding it.

Modeled on the South African anti-apartheid movement, the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions is a nonviolent political campaign dedicated to upholding international law and universal human rights. PACBI guidelines are clear: the intention is to put economic and political pressure on the state of Israel; it does not target individuals based on their citizenship, ethnicity, or religion. For Vtape, this means not engaging with funders or presentation partnerships funded by the state of Israel or by foundations that donate to, support, or normalize apartheid and the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories as defined by international law.

This commitment is that of Vtape’s staff and board of directors. It does not necessarily represent the positions or ideas of the artists whose work we represent.

You can learn more about PACBI at bdsmovement.net/pacbi.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights can be found here.