AdA - Archiv der Avantgarden, © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Photo: David Pinzer

2019, May 19 — 25 | Dresden

The Whole Life. Archives & Reality

Archive viewing, talks, congress, academy

May 19–25, 2019

The archive is omnipresent and always temporary. It reflects the realities of the past—while archived knowledge at the same time shapes the present. How do archives and their objects translate historical realities into contemporary narratives? What does this mean for the structure of archives, for their users, technologies, and forms of knowledge production? What can archives do for today’s societies?

In 2016 Egidio Marzona’s private collection was donated to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD). This transformation of a private collection into a public archive, the Archiv der Avantgarden (AdA), is the starting point for The Whole Life. Archives & Reality. This moment of transition raises numerous new questions: What are the potentialities of such a process? What influence do archive practices and politics have on collections? What is the significance of the archive as a site for counter narratives and alternative knowledge production? How do historical ideologies forge the immaterial layer of the archive and how can current socio-political processes reflect on these past contexts? The Whole Life. Archives & Reality gathers objects, artists, researchers, and practitioners in the space of the Lipsiusbau to address these questions in week-long program of an archive viewing, public lectures, evening events and an international congress. More about the project

With works by Yane Calovski, Assaf Gruber, Gabi Ngcobo, Olaf Nicolai, Meg Stuart, Mathilde ter Heijne, Clarissa Thieme & Tanja Krone, Ala Younis

With contributions by Marion Ackermann, Ali Atef, Beatrice von Bismarck, Graciela Carnevale, Filipa César, Lynnée Denise, Ismael Dia, Assaf Gruber, Sarah E. James, Egidio Marzona, Doreen Mende, Gloria Meynen, Thokozani Mhlambi, Bonaventure S. B. Ndikung, Olaf Nicolai, Sneha Ragavan, Marcelo Rezende, Daniel Rosenberg, Tamer El Said, Bernd Scherer, Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, Nora Sternfeld, Ann Stoler, Sven Spieker, Ricardo Viviani, Marc Wagenbach and Vadim Zakharov

Part of The Whole Life: An Archive Project