Unearthing the Archive

Curator - Aidan Cowling (CANADA)

In a short amount of time, the Internet and digital technologies have dramatically  changed the way we live our lives, and we are beginning to register and quantify how  our daily contact with the digital world has altered the archive. How is technology being  mobilized today to preserve and present archive and history? This residency invites 

participants to experience ANIMA Casa Rural through the lens of the archive, and  consider how can the historical archive be used to find a way forward and makes sense  of today. 

Throughout the residency we will visit The National Archives of Mexico, Archivo de  Instrumentos Públicos, Archivo del Arzobispado de Guadalajara, Archivo General de  Notarías del Estado de Jalisco, and various archives in the surrounding area. Studio  visits with archivists and local artists, will give participants the opportunity to explore  these archives and further their own research. This residency will develop terms for  working in the archive, and explore examples from contemporary practices that we can  deployed when engaging with archival materials. Workshops on the farm will consider  different ways of digitizing the archive, as well as explore experimental ways that the  archive can be used in your artistic practice like digital editing, green screen,  performance and installation. Participants are encouraged to apply to this residency with  a particular theme or focus they wish to research in the archives.