Kunstavond: In Conversation with the Archive…

Please note that the language of this event is English.

Sounds of Resistance

This is the first event of a new series In Conversation with the Archive…. Our archivist marjolijn kok will place current exhibitions in the wider context of Kunstinstituut Melly.

At the moment we have two exhibitions on the second floor, Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme: Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom and Hajra Waheed: There Is a Fountain Even If Pale That Flows Beneath Us All. The shows are conceptualised within the series Call and Respons, where artists respond to the geopolitical demands of our time. Sound is an integral part of their exhibitions, especially as songs of resistance and in particular of prisoners. Therefore, these shows are a good occasion to look into our archive at other artists who have worked with sound as resistance. I will not go into the current exhibitions as you can visit them yourself, and I urge you to read the accompanying posters you can take with you.

Archive

Kunstinstituut Melly’s Archive focuses on our institution’s exhibition history and activities from 1990 to the present. Our archive has been a valuable resource for many arts professionals, researchers, educators and students interested in learning from the contents and processes behind our extensive events and exhibition programs. The Archive is primarily a production archive. It contains materials related to the making of exhibitions, such as loan agreements, correspondence, and floor plans. It also preserves documentation of exhibitions and events, including exhibition guides, photographs, invitations, videos, and audio recordings.

Anyone interested in the history of Kunstinstituut Melly is welcome to submit a research inquiry or arrange a visit to the archive. To do so, please contact us at archive [​at​] kunstinstituutmelly.nl.

Online Archive: MELLY X ARCHIVAL CONSCIOUSNESS

It has always been our goal to make the archive as accessible as possible. While online accessibility is a key objective for Kunstinstituut Melly, it remains a long-term project. In collaboration with Archival Consciousness, we have taken the first step by joining their web archive, Biblio*Graph. Photographs from our first decade (1990–2000) are now available online, and we are currently digitizing a selection of our publications.

Click here to discover the online archive.