Archive, Record and Power
The archive as a productive space of conflict
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12543783Keywords:
archive, conflict, anarchiving, document, datafication, collective memoryAbstract
The archive has long been a recurring theme in contemporary art, yet it was not until the early 21st century that a prominent shift towards considering artworks "as archives" emerged. The archive, both as an institution and a metaphor, has assumed a central role not only in cultural discourse but also in creative practices, intersecting with significant social events. Digitisation has further expanded storage possibilities, facilitating unprecedented information mobility across various cultural and social spheres. More recently, curators of global biennials have also considered the archive as a productive space of conflict, creating an open framework in which the archive enables the creation of new relationships. This illustrates how spaces of knowledge can be devised, developed, and designed. Hence, this new concept of "the productive archive" is crucial, revealing itself as a space where documents and testimonies serve as a platform for productive dispute and struggle.
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