Brack and Brine is a Labrador-based publisher and cultural company.
Our Mission
To augment the arts and documentary heritage professions in our communities.
Our Work
We pursue our mission through four interconnected areas of work.
Publishing House
We produce and nationally distribute ambitious works of commercial and cultural significance: beautiful books that matter to the North.
Collaboration Centre
We are developing a centre in Happy Valley-Goose Bay for professional arts collaboration and presentation, including talks, workshops, screenings, and exhibitions.
Creative Practice
We pursue original professional creative practice as a company and support the creative practices of our staff and collaborators.
Professional Services
We provide advisory, creative, and technical services for clients, partners, and projects in areas consistent with our values and commitments.
Our Story
Mark David Turner and Morgen Mills began working together at the Labrador Institute of Memorial University in Happy Valley-Goose Bay in 2010, with an early focus on Labrador’s extensive film record. Their work included digitizing hundreds of films, establishing an archive, presenting the Labrador/ians on Film screening series, and publishing on Labrador film history.
They launched Brack and Brine in 2021, followed by the publication of Labrador Cinema in 2022. Since then, Brack and Brine has grown its publishing program while undertaking archival, research, creative, and technical work with organizations and communities, particularly in Labrador and the North.
Our Commitments
We, Mark and Morgen, believe in corporate responsibility. We want to ensure that our actions are governed by our values. We believe that our current historical moment demands special commitment and steadfastness.
Relationships
Our work and vision are people-centred. We focus on people over politics, and in each community and conversation, we always strive to remember our place.
Creativity
We want our work to be joyous. We are committed to bringing joy to our work, and to finding joy in the work of others. We are active creative professionals with our own independent artistic practices.
Integrity
We believe in doing the best work possible, and in never being content with aspiration. We strive to be authentic in process, product, and community. We represent our work and ourselves accurately and honestly. We oppose the use of artificial intelligence to replace or mimic human creativity.
Accessibility
We proactively plan for accessibility. We recognize that accessibility has many dimensions, including some of which we are unaware. We invite feedback on areas where we can improve. We have a particular commitment to ensuring that knowledge products about the North are accessible to Northern peoples.
Representation
We believe that high-quality work is inclusive and open. We also believe that a strong literary culture requires diverse authorship. We strive to amplify a broad range of engaging voices, and to maintain space for conversation with others.
Environment
We respect our environment and continuously incorporate new learning about how to work responsibly. We are a paperless company internally, and we choose certified low-impact suppliers for the paper in our printed books.
Advocacy and Community
We are a business, but we are also part of our community. Through advocacy and participation in community life, we work to strengthen local industries and capacity and pursue our interests in records, community culture, and the arts.
Selected work
Remotely Useful
Practical Lessons for Northern Community Archiving
Written by Brack and Brine and published in 2023, Remotely Useful contributes practical lessons from Northern archival work to wider conversations about community-led approaches to keeping records.
It is one example of how our advocacy, research, and creative work extend beyond the books we publish ourselves.
Our People
Mark David Turner
Publisher and Director of Strategy
Mark directs Brack and Brine’s publishing program and professional services and leads much of its advisory, strategic, critical, and curatorial work. He also maintains a professional creative practice supported by Brack and Brine.
Morgen Mills
Creative Director
Morgen directs the collaboration centre and leads much of Brack and Brine’s creative and technical work. She also maintains a professional creative practice supported by Brack and Brine.