Gathering 3: Accessing the (Trans)Institutional Archive
During the third public gathering of Collecting Otherwise, the audience is invited to join the conversation. Which alternative methodologies can enrich the archives of the National Collection for Dutch Architecture and Urban Planning? And how do we collect otherwise, including other points of view? Invited speakers Jos Boys (Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative/UCL) Mitchell Esajas, Nychenda Fecunda (The Black Archives), Aska Welford, Rika Theo (UvA) and Working Group members Micheal Karabinos and Harriet Rose Morley, will join the discussions on case studies presented during the event.
7 October 2021 19:00 - 21:00
Following the second public gathering (27 May 2021), this Collecting Otherwise evening will focus on trans-institutional archives: the exchange of archival material between and across institutions and communities. The evening highlights the collaborative efforts and multi-layered dynamics that play into archives entering, living through and possibly leaving institutions; understanding the space where archives belong beyond the walls and care of the institution they are physically located within. These movements of archive interactions and collaborations, within and outside of institutions, are often bridged by workers who take the role of translator, mediating the languages of policy and connecting efforts back to communities to share ownership, agency, and response-ability over the narratives.
The invited guest speakers will reflect on archives carrying material that contribute to building the discourses around race, colonialism, queer and feminist identities and the construction of belonging and memory amongst specific communities that are often overshadowed. Together, through conversations between guest speakers and with guest respondents, based on TBD-THC's Mingling format, we will contribute to a multivocal dialogue on how building communities across different archival research practices can contribute to a more accessible archive, while leaving space for the many voices and intersections that live amongst it.
In a format open to crossing disciplines and conversations, through a collaborative and networked effort with other organisations and initiatives, this evening will also highlight Collecting Otherwise's current efforts in making adaptations to the way we collect, acquire, and collaborate with and for underrepresented communities in the light of transinstiutional approaches. Space will be made to reflect on ongoing formation of tools and methods by the Working Group members within the project, such as the Archival Care Rider and the Asterisk. The tools also contribute to the understanding of archival practices in movement within and across institutions and the various parties involved.
Collecting Otherwise
Collecting Otherwise is a research project that helps to ask fundamental questions about the value and meaning of the documents contained in the National Collection of Dutch Architecture and Urban Planning managed by Het Nieuwe Instituut. This research project proposes reading the collection and the practice of collecting and archiving from a perspective in line with current social changes. It focuses on developing alternative methodologies for the acquisition, classification and distribution of heritage.
Collecting Otherwise is part of the Rethinking the Collection initiative, initiated after the decision by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) to invest in the visibility, restoration and digitisation of the National Collection and falls under the umbrella of Disclosing Architecture. This project contributes to the ambition of Het Nieuwe Instituut to strengthen its position as a heritage institution, and to the larger goal of taking a critical look at the methods, tools, research themes, languages and alliances that the institute has previously developed.