Toegang: gratis

What kinds of artistic and historical sources are circulated as evidence for trans and queer lives, and how should we evaluate the personal and creative dimensions of its presentation?

How can archives and art, or a mingled form of artchives, evidence the plentitude of queer and trans lives? Scholars in a wide variety of fields of study (queer, trans, disability, ‘race’/ethnicity), often from outside of the discipline of history, have seized on archival sources to locate ‘those of my kind.’

Artists have created their own records of existence and brought their aesthetic sensibilities to documenting historical and contemporary figures. Many of these efforts seem not so much about an attempted harking back to an affirmative, conflict-free past to claim “we’ve always been here,” but are rather geared towards opening up imaginative histories outside mainstream historiographical models.

The profuseness of artistic and literary experiments with trans and queer archives signals a productive and transformative form of engagement that highlights polyphony and conflict. How can these creative tactics change our understanding of LGBTQI+ history? In what ways might this shift to the creative and the personal seed transformative potential for cultural heritage politics and policy more broadly?

‘My Evidence: Creating LGBTQI+ Art and Archives’ is a conference that will take place Thursday-Friday 3 & 4 October 2024, in Amsterdam at IHLIA LGBT Heritage (day 1) and Mediamatic (day 2).

More information follows

About Blooming Archive

This exhibition features works by seven Dutch and international artists who have researched the IHLIA – LGBTQ collection through their respective practices. Each piece is driven by a different approach of dealing with archival documents: Some of them creatively reframe archival objects to reconstruct and revitalize fragmented histories, forgotten figures, and activist strategies. Others apply montage and collage strategies based on archival holdings, highlighting questions surrounding the ordering and preserving of subaltern heritage.

Together, the works engulf a wide medial range, spanning from textiles and books to sculpture, sound, and video installation. All displays date from the last few years, reflecting the continuously growing relevance of archival art. The exhibition thus offers an insight into contemporary artistic discourses renegotiating art’s access to and participation in LGBTQIA+ history.

ENGLISH BELOW

Dit is een Engelstalige expositie

In de IHLIA-tentoonstelling Blooming Archive zijn werken te zien van zeven Nederlandse en internationale kunstenaars die onze lhbtiq+-collectie hebben onderzocht. Dit varieert van textiel en boeken tot beeldhouwkunst, geluid en video-installatie.

Elk werk wordt gedreven door een andere benadering van het omgaan met archiefdocumenten: sommigen geven op creatieve wijze een nieuwe invulling aan archiefobjecten om gefragmenteerde geschiedenissen, vergeten figuren en activistische strategieën te reconstrueren en nieuw leven in te blazen. Anderen passen montage- en collagestrategieën toe op basis van archiefbezit, waarbij de nadruk ligt op vragen rond het ordenen en bewaren van achtergesteld erfgoed.

Alle tentoongestelde werken dateren van de laatste jaren en weerspiegelen de voortdurend groeiende relevantie van archiefkunst. Door verder te gaan dan de traditionele manier van het ordenen en tentoonstellen van archieven, verkent archiefkunst op speculatieve wijze de mogelijkheden van nieuwe lezingen van archiefstukken.

Een van de centrale doelen van de tentoonstelling is om de verschillende werken en benaderingen met elkaar in gesprek te laten gaan. Bovendien onderstreept dit het belang van de toegevoegde waarde van het artistiek tastbaar maken van de veelkleurigheid en compleetheid van queer- en translevens, die routinematig verborgen blijven in dominante verhalen over kwetsbaarheid, verlies en dood.

Het randprogramma omvat verschillende artist talks, een boekpresentatie en gratis rondleidingen.

This exhibition features works by seven Dutch and international artists who have researched the IHLIA – LGBTQ collection through their respective practices. Each piece is driven by a different approach of dealing with archival documents: Some of them creatively reframe archival objects to reconstruct and revitalize fragmented histories, forgotten figures, and activist strategies. Others apply montage and collage strategies based on archival holdings, highlighting questions surrounding the ordering and preserving of subaltern heritage.

Together, the works engulf a wide medial range, spanning from textiles and books to sculpture, sound, and video installation. All displays date from the last few years, reflecting the continuously growing relevance of archival art. The exhibition thus offers an insight into contemporary artistic discourses renegotiating art’s access to and participation in LGBTQIA+ history.

The motivation behind artistic research in non-heteronormative archives is not simply to extract material but also to add to the collections by way of critical inquiry and new creations. How then does archival art contribute to queer and trans heritage? By going beyond the traditional logics of archival ordering and display, archival art speculatively explores the potentials of new readings of archival records. In this regard, aesthetic sensibilities strategically recover evasive traces of intimacy and sexuality, instantiating an alternative and indirect form of archiving.

One of the central goals of the exhibition is to bring the different works and approaches into conversation, sounding out their intersecting concerns and interests in a still understudied field. Furthermore, the selection of works underscores the importance of the added value that comes from the artistic making tangible of the abundance and plentitude of queer and trans lives, routinely submerged in dominant narratives of vulnerability, loss, and death. 

The accompanying program includes several artist talks, a book presentation, and free guided tours.

More information follows

About Blooming Archive

This exhibition features works by seven Dutch and international artists who have researched the IHLIA – LGBTQ collection through their respective practices. Each piece is driven by a different approach of dealing with archival documents: Some of them creatively reframe archival objects to reconstruct and revitalize fragmented histories, forgotten figures, and activist strategies. Others apply montage and collage strategies based on archival holdings, highlighting questions surrounding the ordering and preserving of subaltern heritage.

Together, the works engulf a wide medial range, spanning from textiles and books to sculpture, sound, and video installation. All displays date from the last few years, reflecting the continuously growing relevance of archival art. The exhibition thus offers an insight into contemporary artistic discourses renegotiating art’s access to and participation in LGBTQIA+ history.

More information follows

About Blooming Archive

This exhibition features works by seven Dutch and international artists who have researched the IHLIA – LGBTQ collection through their respective practices. Each piece is driven by a different approach of dealing with archival documents: Some of them creatively reframe archival objects to reconstruct and revitalize fragmented histories, forgotten figures, and activist strategies. Others apply montage and collage strategies based on archival holdings, highlighting questions surrounding the ordering and preserving of subaltern heritage.

Together, the works engulf a wide medial range, spanning from textiles and books to sculpture, sound, and video installation. All displays date from the last few years, reflecting the continuously growing relevance of archival art. The exhibition thus offers an insight into contemporary artistic discourses renegotiating art’s access to and participation in LGBTQIA+ history.

More information follows

About Blooming Archive

This exhibition features works by seven Dutch and international artists who have researched the IHLIA – LGBTQ collection through their respective practices. Each piece is driven by a different approach of dealing with archival documents: Some of them creatively reframe archival objects to reconstruct and revitalize fragmented histories, forgotten figures, and activist strategies. Others apply montage and collage strategies based on archival holdings, highlighting questions surrounding the ordering and preserving of subaltern heritage.

Together, the works engulf a wide medial range, spanning from textiles and books to sculpture, sound, and video installation. All displays date from the last few years, reflecting the continuously growing relevance of archival art. The exhibition thus offers an insight into contemporary artistic discourses renegotiating art’s access to and participation in LGBTQIA+ history.

More information follows

About Blooming Archive

This exhibition features works by seven Dutch and international artists who have researched the IHLIA – LGBTQ collection through their respective practices. Each piece is driven by a different approach of dealing with archival documents: Some of them creatively reframe archival objects to reconstruct and revitalize fragmented histories, forgotten figures, and activist strategies. Others apply montage and collage strategies based on archival holdings, highlighting questions surrounding the ordering and preserving of subaltern heritage.

Together, the works engulf a wide medial range, spanning from textiles and books to sculpture, sound, and video installation. All displays date from the last few years, reflecting the continuously growing relevance of archival art. The exhibition thus offers an insight into contemporary artistic discourses renegotiating art’s access to and participation in LGBTQIA+ history.

More information follows

About Blooming Archive

This exhibition features works by seven Dutch and international artists who have researched the IHLIA – LGBTQ collection through their respective practices. Each piece is driven by a different approach of dealing with archival documents: Some of them creatively reframe archival objects to reconstruct and revitalize fragmented histories, forgotten figures, and activist strategies. Others apply montage and collage strategies based on archival holdings, highlighting questions surrounding the ordering and preserving of subaltern heritage.

Together, the works engulf a wide medial range, spanning from textiles and books to sculpture, sound, and video installation. All displays date from the last few years, reflecting the continuously growing relevance of archival art. The exhibition thus offers an insight into contemporary artistic discourses renegotiating art’s access to and participation in LGBTQIA+ history.

ENGLISH BELOW

Dit is een Engelstalige expositie

In de IHLIA-tentoonstelling Blooming Archive zijn werken te zien van zeven Nederlandse en internationale kunstenaars die onze lhbtiq+-collectie hebben onderzocht. Dit varieert van textiel en boeken tot beeldhouwkunst, geluid en video-installatie.

Elk werk wordt gedreven door een andere benadering van het omgaan met archiefdocumenten: sommigen geven op creatieve wijze een nieuwe invulling aan archiefobjecten om gefragmenteerde geschiedenissen, vergeten figuren en activistische strategieën te reconstrueren en nieuw leven in te blazen. Anderen passen montage- en collagestrategieën toe op basis van archiefbezit, waarbij de nadruk ligt op vragen rond het ordenen en bewaren van achtergesteld erfgoed.

Alle tentoongestelde werken dateren van de laatste jaren en weerspiegelen de voortdurend groeiende relevantie van archiefkunst. Door verder te gaan dan de traditionele manier van het ordenen en tentoonstellen van archieven, verkent archiefkunst op speculatieve wijze de mogelijkheden van nieuwe lezingen van archiefstukken.

Een van de centrale doelen van de tentoonstelling is om de verschillende werken en benaderingen met elkaar in gesprek te laten gaan. Bovendien onderstreept dit het belang van de toegevoegde waarde van het artistiek tastbaar maken van de veelkleurigheid en compleetheid van queer- en translevens, die routinematig verborgen blijven in dominante verhalen over kwetsbaarheid, verlies en dood.

Het randprogramma omvat verschillende artist talks, een boekpresentatie en gratis rondleidingen.

This exhibition features works by seven Dutch and international artists who have researched the IHLIA – LGBTQ collection through their respective practices. Each piece is driven by a different approach of dealing with archival documents: Some of them creatively reframe archival objects to reconstruct and revitalize fragmented histories, forgotten figures, and activist strategies. Others apply montage and collage strategies based on archival holdings, highlighting questions surrounding the ordering and preserving of subaltern heritage.

Together, the works engulf a wide medial range, spanning from textiles and books to sculpture, sound, and video installation. All displays date from the last few years, reflecting the continuously growing relevance of archival art. The exhibition thus offers an insight into contemporary artistic discourses renegotiating art’s access to and participation in LGBTQIA+ history.

The motivation behind artistic research in non-heteronormative archives is not simply to extract material but also to add to the collections by way of critical inquiry and new creations. How then does archival art contribute to queer and trans heritage? By going beyond the traditional logics of archival ordering and display, archival art speculatively explores the potentials of new readings of archival records. In this regard, aesthetic sensibilities strategically recover evasive traces of intimacy and sexuality, instantiating an alternative and indirect form of archiving.

One of the central goals of the exhibition is to bring the different works and approaches into conversation, sounding out their intersecting concerns and interests in a still understudied field. Furthermore, the selection of works underscores the importance of the added value that comes from the artistic making tangible of the abundance and plentitude of queer and trans lives, routinely submerged in dominant narratives of vulnerability, loss, and death. 

The accompanying program includes several artist talks, a book presentation, and free guided tours.

More information follows

About Blooming Archive

This exhibition features works by seven Dutch and international artists who have researched the IHLIA – LGBTQ collection through their respective practices. Each piece is driven by a different approach of dealing with archival documents: Some of them creatively reframe archival objects to reconstruct and revitalize fragmented histories, forgotten figures, and activist strategies. Others apply montage and collage strategies based on archival holdings, highlighting questions surrounding the ordering and preserving of subaltern heritage.

Together, the works engulf a wide medial range, spanning from textiles and books to sculpture, sound, and video installation. All displays date from the last few years, reflecting the continuously growing relevance of archival art. The exhibition thus offers an insight into contemporary artistic discourses renegotiating art’s access to and participation in LGBTQIA+ history.