Archive Trouble

Implicitly or explicitly, archives structure most of our research. We deal with film prints, DVD or BluRay collections, streaming services; with paper documents in different forms, and data of varying formats. All this material needs to be stored and preserved – sometimes it is easily accessible, sometimes hidden behind real or virtual walls. The majority of films, texts, and other media that we encounter either stem from archives of diverse nature or will one day enter an archive. The long tradition of compilation film and found footage shows that films themselves can adopt archival functions by organizing, reconfiguring, and passing on historical material into the future.

The character of archives is manifold and heterogeneous. On the one hand, we are faced with traditional archives with long histories, often established with a national focus (like the Cinémathèque Française, the Deutsche Kinemathek, the Cinémathèque Suisse, or the British Film Institute). On the other hand, there are collections of para-national disposition that follow other criteria to select and preserve (like Anthology Film Archives, or Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art). The advent of digital repositories and the circulation of images and texts on the internet has also seen the emergence of vast online collections in the form of shadow libraries or informal film collections (ubuweb, karagarga etc.). This begs the question of whether the term “archive” is still the right term to characterize their structure and function or whether the situation is too troubled for the archive to stick to its conceptual definitions.

In terms of methodology, digital tools to organize, sort, and address text and image have also put traditional forms of archival work to the test. Historically, the archive is a European invention, much in line with imperial notions of power and administration. However, attention has recently shifted to “other archives” in the Global South with very different affordances and requirements. Often entangled in colonial histories and economically working under precarious conditions, these archives challenge our notions of archival security and persistence, asking us to rethink the eurocentric limitations of our perspectives.

In this complex and volatile situation, the two-day symposium brings together specific case studies, inviting reflections on concrete archival research as well as contributions from the realm of archive theory. It is aimed specifically at researchers pursuing PhD projects but also welcomes more established researchers and experts in the field to foster a productive discourse.

Concept: Volker Pantenburg

Thursday, June 6, 2024

University of Zurich
KO2-F-174
Karl-Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zürich

Friday, June 7, 2024

University of Zurich
KO2-F-174
Karl-Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zürich