Anna Banana collection, 1975/2003

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Commonwealth University, Cabell Library
James Branch Cabell Library
Virginia Commonwealth University
P.O. Box 842003
901 Park Avenue
Richmond, VA 23284-2003
Contact for questions and access:
POC: SCA Staff
Phone: (804) 828-1108
Fax: (804) 828-0151
Restrictions:

Collection open for research.

Preferred citation:

Anna Banana Collection, Collection Number M 385, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Summary

Extent:
0.42 Linear Feet .42 linear feet
Creator:
Banana, Anna, 1940-
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

Anna Banana Collection, Collection Number M 385, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of one box of thirty-one folders, which contains Anna Banana's extensive curriculum vitae, bibliographic materials, stamp designs from 1988-2002, selected newsletters from Banana Rag and Artistamp News, as well as reviews from various artists.

Biographical / historical:

Anna Banana (b. 1940), formerly Anne Lee Long, is a visual and performance artist from Canada. Since the 1970s, she has been a major contributor and innovator of mail art. For over 30 years, she has been part of the International Mail Art Network (IMAN), an art exchange program that involves artists from all over the world. She has also published extensively on art related topics, including a newsletter called Banana Rag (1971-1991), which she converted into Artistamp News (1991-1996). In addition to her work with mail art, Anna Banana is also a performance artist. Her stage performances have included Dada and Futurist scripts as well as conceptual performances.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Rebecca Dobyns.
Custodial history:

The Anna Banana Collection was compiled by a former VCU Special Collections and Archives intern, Rebecca Dobyns, in 2004. The stamps in the collection are also a gift sent directly from Anna Banana.The papers were collected by Dobyns as part of a book art project called To and From: Davi Det Hompson Correspondents. Her research was included in her master's thesis entitled "The Postcard Art Project."

Arrangement:

The collection has been divided into three groups: artist's bibliographic materials, newsletters, and published articles on Anna Banana.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Mail art.
Artists -- Canada
Names:
Banana, Anna, 1940-