ARCHIVING COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS

Maintaining Our History

The ICG Pat & Peggy Kennedy Memorial Archives is the ICG’s permanent historical collection. The Archives include the largest existing collection of photographs, video, and paper ephemera record of the costuming art in relation to Science Fiction conventions. The ICG has an ongoing project to digitize as much of that content as possible. https://www.costume.org/wp/pat-and-peggy-kennedy-memorial-archives-catalog/

In addition to posting the recipients of awards, with photographs of the entries in costume, on the event’s social media, website, and print media, all Masquerade Directors are encouraged to provide the ICG with a complete set of entries, awards, photos, and other ephemera, regardless of the scope of their Masquerade.

International Costumers’ Guild Archives

Masquerades that publicly advertise their use of the ICG Guidelines are especially encouraged to submit photos and names of their participants, including any awards won, so that their Masquerade entries can be included in the International Costumers’ Guild Pat and Peggy Kennedy Memorial Archives.

Email a complete list of all entrants and any awards received, with accompanying photos that identify the entry and/or participants, to the ICG Archivist or Corresponding Secretary [email addresses here]. If the Masquerade is a Costume-Con event, a separate set of archival materials should be delivered to the Costume-Con Archivist. (See the Costume-Con Constitution for details.)

Privacy Considerations for Archives

Participants can opt to be included in the archives under their cosplay name or pseudonym, but should use the same name when entering in multiple Masquerades. Participants may opt out of including their legal name, or may choose to be included only as the costume name for the sake of anonymity.

This is particularly recommended in the case of costumers under the age of legal majority. Publication of personal information should always be done in compliance with applicable privacy laws and regulations.

Any release forms included in the registration process for entrants should be maintained as part of the event’s archive, especially those releases for use of their name/image.

If a costumer has changed their name, respect their wishes for which name(s) they want used for their entries in the archives.

Recordings for National Collections

The U.S. Library of Congress, and several other national collections around the world have determined that “Masquerade Costuming” is a unique art form worthy of archiving and preservation.

Providing a video record of the competition (especially for national- or international-scope Masquerades) with supporting information on entries and results will help preserve our often too-ephemeral creations for posterity.Additional Resources

The Kennedy Masquerade Compendium (1981) edited by Peggy Kennedy is the seminal volume on running Masquerade contests. The Masquerade Handbook edited by Janet Wilson Anderson is another early resource on the topic. Regrettably, both volumes are currently out of print.

The ICG and its chapters frequently publish articles on the art of Masquerade production.

Some articles may be found in back issues of The International Costumer Newsletter. (https://www.costume.org/wp/the-inter national-costumer-newsletter/)

Of particular note, the article “Running a Small Masquerade” was published in issues 4 and 5 of volume VI (2007) (https://www.costume.org/wp/the-international-costumer-newsletter/  #2007) or the author’s website. (https://www.twistedimage.com/ costume/articles/Running%20a%20small%20Masquerade .pdf)

The Virtual Costumer, the quarterly magazine of the Silicon Web Costumers’ Guild, has also published several articles on Masquerade production. Back issues may be found at https:// siwcostumers.org/vc-contents.html. Volume 14, issue 1 (2016) is dedicated entirely to “The Art of the Masquerade.”  (https://www. siwcostumers.org/vc_contents.html#v14_i1)