course

Close-up of a vintage Toshiba CRT television showing a woman's face on the screen, placed on a yellow table in a room.

((The June Jordan Papers, Harvard Radcliffe Institute))

c.1.3 | publishing the archive

a 4-week investigation into the (im)possibilities of archival research, with the ongoing aim to refine creative process. 

these classes + workshops will encourage participants to challenge extractive historical frameworks, and to move towards a restorative dialogue with archival artefacts. we will consider the metaphysical, material, and socio-political dimensions of working with the archive, taking seriously the affective + indescribable impact of working so intimately with the Past.

we encourage artists, thinkers, and makers from all disciplines to join this course. no prior engagement or experience with archives is necessary.

curriculum

  • week i

    finding your archive

    stretching the definition of what an archive is + can be. we will explore resources, databases, and methods for locating the archive that you will work with for the duration of the course. finding your “why” and beginning to develop your research methodology.

  • week ii

    critical fabulation

    focusing on one aspect of your archive, you will identify and critically engage with any gaps or missing elements of said archive. this process is designed to open up new possibilities of relating to the past through close reading and contemplation with your artefact. what is missing, forgotten, discarded, or anonymized, and why?

  • week iii

    correspondence as process

    speculatively working-with the gaps of your archive, you will be invited to dialogue with the materials and/or beings whose stories you would like to further explore. how does correspondence bend time?

  • week iv

    iterating + publishing

    thinking of publishing as the “act of making public”, we will workshop ideas to formalize your work in the form + genre of your choosing. you can expect to have a working prototype by the end of this course.

course objectives

develop archival literacy

deepen your research methodology

expand your creative practice

connect with an intellectual/familial lineage

create a prototype for publication 

Various handwritten and printed papers on a dark surface, including a yellow sheet, a pink sheet, and a gray sheet, some with handwritten notes and others with printed text.

“myth is the threshold of history.”

— SAIDIYA V. HARTMAN

we begin on sunday, february 22nd at 18:00 CET | 12PM EST.

enrolment will close at 20 participants to ensure the intimacy of the group.

PAYMENT PLAN
PAY IN FULL

((10% discount))