AICA Hellas | Kritiki+Techni (Criticism+Art) Vol. 6

Contemporary Art and the Archive: Archival Collections, Artistic Practices, Reflections

Edited by | Charis Kanellopoulou, art historian, exhibition curator

Why does the theme of the Archive interest us today so much? Art archives –as every archive– are significant devices of knowledge and memory as they collect, record, process, preserve, and pass historical documents to the present and future. The collection of objects, exhibits, documents and facts of the artistic past structures the historical memory, prevents the consignment of valuable material to oblivion, records the artistic creation in terms of site and time continuance, and prepares this material for the future generations.

During the recent years, the discussion about the Archive has been extended to several forms of art practice, where art archives become a fruitful platform of stimuli for contemporary art production and theoretical discourse. Exhibitions, actions and numerous artworks highlight the existing dialogue between archival practice, contemporary research and artistic creation, underlining the conditions that point to the outlook of archives through a contemporary prism.

This anthology of essays by Greek art historians, theoreticians and artists aims to

– present institutions that collect archives of Greek modern and contemporary art and examine their model of function

– examine the role of art archives to the preservation and study of the 20^th century Greek art production, as well as to educational purposes

– search for potential “gaps” at the archiving of Greek art production

– bring to the forefront vital processes, concerns and perspectives concerning the use of archives

– highlight the archives as an active tool for innovative research and the creation of new artworks, as well as theoretical and curatorial proposals.

The publication is supported by NEON.