What is the relevance of archives today? How are they developed or sustained? Arts archives do more than simply document what has passed. They also remind us how society has changed, and how our art worlds have evolved into what they are today. An arts archive can tell us more if we allow it to, and if we work to create archives in ways that are purpose-led and relevant.
Yet arts archives are facing pressing challenges, including access, visibility, long-term storage and
costs. There are also questions about ownership, agency, temporalities and representation. In light of
these challenges and questions, are arts archives still worth the effort?
This event was
co-organised by Five Arts Centre, Arts and Culture Management Programme at Singapore Management
University (SMU-ACM) and Centre 42. The roundtable discussion featured critical reflections by Kathy
Rowland (MY Art Memory
Project), Ma Yanling (Centre
42) and Janet Pillai (Arts Education Archive Malaysia), with Hoe Su Fern (SMU-ACM) serving as
respondent. Fasyali Fadzly (ASWARA) moderated this lively
session, which encompassed the focuses and motivations behind each repository; the pleasures, challenges
and value of archives; as well as the narratives, gaps, ethical considerations and sustainability of
archival work.
As a prompt to consider the possible futures of archives, the event began with a poster exhibition by SMU-ACM students sharing cross-Causeway theatre collaborations between Singapore and Malaysia. The students introduced their research into these exchanges - Atomic Jaya, Food, Sex and Death, Nadirah, and Second Link - contextualising them within the frame of an archival entry.
Read more about the speakers at Centre 42's event page.
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