Today is Leonard’s 89th birthday…and the second year of silence

[LisaLCFan]

...perhaps this is just my perception, but it seems like a bit too much emphasis is being placed on the supposed importance of the contents of Leonard's archives -- are the personal, rough and/or unfinished bits and pieces of his life really essential to keeping his songs alive, as has been suggested?

I value Leonard's archives because he did. He felt they had value that exceeded what was published. What we have are the gems. What we are missing is how they were polished and how many were discarded. The interest, I suppose, is mostly scholarly. but I would love to see the process whereby Leonard produced some of his greatest lines. To see how he might have come from a dark place into the light with some of his songs would be inspiring. The opportunity to understand the life of a genius doesn't come up that often...

Thank you, Marie, for your very thoughtful response. I actually do agree with what you wrote -- it would, indeed, be fascinating to be able to see the genesis and evolution of Leonard's work in his many notebooks, and I did not mean to suggest that they have no value. Rather, I was merely thinking that the archives are separate from Leonard's body of published work, insofar as nothing can diminish the brilliance of those published works, or diminish the appreciation of them, or diminish the impact that they have had, and will continue to have, on people's lives. Of course, if the archives eventually become available for people to examine, then that could certainly serve to enhance people's appreciation and understanding of Leonard's published works, but regardless of whatever may happen, nothing can take away from those works.

I suppose I just wanted to point out how fortunate we are to have everything that Leonard gave us during his lifetime, and that these current legal problems should not be seen in any way to be tarnishing those gems. It never hurts to shine some light on something beautiful and positive that we already have, and that we will always have, perhaps in spite of whatever darkness and negativity may be happening in other corners.

Cheers, and thanks again for taking the time to write these posts.

[MarieM]

Thank you, Marie, for your very thoughtful response. I actually do agree with what you wrote -- it would, indeed, be fascinating to be able to see the genesis and evolution of Leonard's work in his many notebooks, and I did not mean to suggest that they have no value. Rather, I was merely thinking that the archives are separate from Leonard's body of published work, insofar as nothing can diminish the brilliance of those published works, or diminish the appreciation of them, or diminish the impact that they have had, and will continue to have, on people's lives. Of course, if the archives eventually become available for people to examine, then that could certainly serve to enhance people's appreciation and understanding of Leonard's published works, but regardless of whatever may happen, nothing can take away from those works.

I suppose I just wanted to point out how fortunate we are to have everything that Leonard gave us during his lifetime, and that these current legal problems should not be seen in any way to be tarnishing those gems. It never hurts to shine some light on something beautiful and positive that we already have, and that we will always have, perhaps in spite of whatever darkness and negativity may be happening in other corners.

Cheers, and thanks again for taking the time to write these posts.

Lisa, you've made such a good point. Leonard understood greed. But so often we don't stop and appreciate what we have already been given.

[MarieM]

More thoughts to Leonard:

Leonard, you once said:

“Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.”

Your poetry, the evidence of your life, is contained in your archive, which Canadian academic experts have assessed to be a Canadian national treasure. Your archive contains 243 notebooks, thousands of pages of manuscripts and typewritten loose pages, handwritten poems and lyrics, thousands of photos, hundreds of letters, hundreds of fine art drawings, unpublished prose and poetry, thousands of unreleased audio recordings, hundreds of video recordings, fan mail, business records, books, instruments and personal items. Surely you didn’t save all this material for it to gather dust in a storage facility. You undertook to organize this material and began the process of digitalization, when the technology was young. This alone demonstrates your desire to have your archive preserved and shared.

The plan to digitized your archive is an ingenious way to both protect the original material and to share your legacy with a broader audience. The unprecedented quantity and quality of your archive has led to plans by numerous institutions to develop and house the different materials. Here is a list of what is planned thus far:

McGill University proposes creating the Leonard Cohen Institute for Study of the Creative Process. McGill also seeks to acquire the complete notebooks;

University of British Columbia plans to establish a Chair in Leonard Cohen and Asian Thought and would house materials most closely related to your interests in Asian thought including videos, audio recordings, books, and manuscripts;

University of Toronto proposes developing a program in Leonard Cohen and Canadian Studies. The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the UT is the most likely repository of a large portion of the archive, particularly original master sound recordings;

University of Calgary is working with the National Music Centre on developing a program around music management and optimizing artist performance based on the unprecedented success of your 2008-2013 world tours. UofC will acquire the performance videos and business records related to the world tours, as well as audio and video recordings from earlier tours. The NMC proposes an exhibition of instruments and world tours at their facility Studio Bell in Calgary that could also travel to other institutions. The NMC will likely become the repository of your musical instruments; and,

The Art Gallery of Ontario is developing an ambitious exhibition jointly with the Museé des Beaux Arts de Montréal about your work that will also be presented at other major museums internationally. The AGO has expressed interest in the fine art and photography related to your unique self-portraits, as well as a variety of original drawings and other works on paper. Some elements of the archive would also likely be placed at the MBAM, including personal effects to furnish your house in Montreal as a museum.

Under the direction of Robert Kory, the Leonard Cohen Family Trust has three equally important goals for the repatriation of the archive: scholarship, exhibition, and preservation. From this list of plans, it would seem the goals have been met. The interest in your archive was recently documented at a symposium where these institutions gathered to discuss your legacy. It would be a shame and a great loss for Canada and the arts if someone stood in the way of the publication of your final work, your lifetime of work, your legacy. The enthusiasm of these institutions and the scholarship they can encourage should keep your music alive for many years to come.

Check out the symposium on Leonard’s archive where the above institutions discuss their plans:

https://vimeo.com/827717978?share=copy
Password: LCSymposium30

If you would like to know more about Leonard's archive and what has all these institutions so excited, members of the forum are invited on a first come, first serve basis to participate in a virtual live demonstration via Zoom of the archive and the Starchive program. If you'd like to see the presentation, please email me at megan2c2b@aol.com with your name and country.

[LisaLCFan]

...Check out the symposium on Leonard’s archive where the above institutions discuss their plans:

https://vimeo.com/827717978?share=copy...

That was an extremely interesting and enlightening video, and I deeply regret my previous comments that downplayed the importance of Leonard's archives -- I spoke out of turn, and I am sorry.

Before reading your post and watching that video, I honestly did not realise how vast and varied the archives are, and I was not aware of all of the wonderful plans by Canadian Universities and Arts institutions to use those materials in such exceptional ways. If -- or hopefully when -- those plans come to fruition, then I can absolutely understand how and why that would keep Leonard's songs and music alive, and so much more!

[MarieM]

Lisa,

Thank you so much for your comments. It means a great deal that your understanding of the archive has been advanced. You are so kind to share your new view.

[MarieM]

Greetings,

The Zoom presentation on the Leonard Cohen archive is scheduled for Sunday, October 29, at 10 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles summer time). Again, if you would like to attend, please email me at megan2c2b@aol.com. You will need a microphone and/or camera to fully participate, but if you have neither, you can still observe.

Once you have emailed me, Robert de Young will email you a website link, id and passcode to enter the presentation.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

NEW TIME FOR THIS ZOOM PRESENTATION IS 10 A.M.

[Maarten]

Marie

I'd be happy to participate and I'm looking forward to the Zoom next week, although this means I'll have to be up and about at 6am on Monday morning here in Belgium.

See you and Robert soon
Maarten

[MarieM]

Greetings,

Please note that I made an error when scheduling the Zoom presentation. It should have been 10 AM PDT not 10 pm. I believe this works better for most of you. If you have already emailed me, you should have received an updated notice from Robert de Young with the new time (10 a.m.) and the link, id, and passcode.

Please write me if you have questions or ask them here.

Sorry for the confusion.

Also, an added request -- no one joining the Zoom presentation should attempt to record or screen capture anything during the session. Thank you.

[Maarten]

Marie

Good news regarding the change of timing!
6pm on Sunday evening sure sounds like a better moment to think about the archives than 6am Monday morning!

If any of you need a handy tool to compare world times:
https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?pl=1&li ... 3%7C6&hf=1

Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces at the Zoom!
Maarten

[Citizen_Kane]

Anyone in yet? Here it says I am waiting for the host to start the meeting.

[Maarten]

Hi Lennard

Same here, waiting to start.

Maarten

[musicmania]

Anyone in yet? Here it says I am waiting for the host to start the meeting.

I'm getting the same.

[Mabeanie1]

10:17 PDT/ 17:17 UK - still waiting?

[Maarten]

Hi All,

Robert is having zoom issues.

Stay if you can. He says he'll be up and running shortly.

Marie

[Mabeanie1]

What a fascinating zoom session! Well worth sticking with if you could. Big thanks to Robert* and Marie for arranging the demonstration of the work that has been done on starchive and to Robert* for the fascinating insights he gave us into the archive process and possible future uses of the material.

Wendy

*de Young