Art Archives Research Articles

Documenting Media Art: An Archive and Bridging Thesaurus for MediaArtHistories

While Media Art has evolved into a critical field at the intersection of art, science and technology, a significant loss threatens this art form due to rapid technological obsolescence and static documentation strategies. Addressing these challenges, the Interactive Archive and Meta-Thesaurus for Media Art Research was developed to advance an Archive of Digital Art. Through an innovative strategy of “collaborative archiving,” social Web 2.0 features foster the engagement of the international media art community and a “bridging thesaurus” linking the extended documentation of the Archive with other databases of “traditional” art history facilitates interdisciplinary and transhistorical comparative analyses.

Engaging Archives: Activating our collections for new audiences

In recent years we have noticed a substantial increase in interest in our archive collections at the E H McCormick Research Library at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. With circulation figures for print publications generally reported to be on a downward trend for libraries, unique material is being eagerly sought out.Who are our new audiences and how do they engage with archives in varying ways? What specific approaches have contributed to achieving this positive shift? Including observations from other research librarians and archivists, this article provides a view of art archive use and users, as well as the mechanisms that are proving successful. Our aim is to increase the visibility of our special collections to facilitate the unlocking of their powerful potential for the understanding and, sometimes, making of art.

A Study for Establishment of Namdo Cultural Arts Archives - Focused on the Description Elements and Classification System for Cultural Arts -

A Study for Establishment of Namdo Cultural Arts Archives - Focused on the Description Elements and Classification System for Cultural Arts -

Finding the place for art archives: Reflections from archiving Indonesian and Southeast Asian art

This article is a collection of reflections of art archiving work in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, focusing on building an Indonesian art archive at Indonesian Visual Art Archive (IVAA), 2006-2015, and Southeast Asian art archives at National Gallery Singapore, from 2015 to the present. The article provides insights, learning points, and perspectives on the importance of art archives to support art historical research and the development of art history in Southeast Asia. It sheds light on the challenges, opportunities, and current developments in the field of building archives.

D-ark—a Shared Digital Performance Art Archive with a Modular Metadata Schema

Digital objects and documentation of intangible cultural heritage pose new challenges for most museums, which have a long history in preserving tangible objects. Art museums, however, have been working with digital objects for some decades, as they have been collecting media art. Yet, performance art as an ephemeral art form has been a challenge for art museums’ collection work. This article presents a method for archiving digital and audiovisual performance documentation. D-ark (digital performance art archive) is based on a joint effort by the artist community T.E.H.D.A.S., which has created the archive, and Pori Art Museum, which is committed to preserving the archive for the future. The aim is to produce sufficient standardized metadata to support this objective. This article addresses the problems of documenting an ephemeral art form and copyright issues pertaining to both the artist and the videographer. The concept of D-ark includes a modular metadata schema that makes a distinction between descriptive, administrative, and technical metadata. The model is designed to be flexible—new modules of objects or technical metadata can be added in the future, if necessary. D-ark metadata schema deploys the FRBRoo, Premis, VideoMD, and AudioMD standards. Administrative and technical metadata modules abide by Finnish digital preservation specifications.

Editor’s Note

Previous articleNext article FreeEditor’s NotePDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreThis issue opens with an essay on the aesthetic and political potential of the modern scrapbook. Makeda Best’s argument focuses on a unique object at the Archives of American Art, one that artist William H. Johnson created through careful selection, transformation, and recombination. I must admit feeling kinship with the scrapbooker when I collect and assemble the content for each issue of the journal. Diverse research materials intersect on our pages, bringing together multiple art-historical contexts, artistic media, and interpretive methods. At its best, the resulting arrangement—in this case, a sequence of articles concerning African American modernist painting and politics, the social practice of gift-giving in the art world of the 1960s, and the economics of nineteenth-century art—exceeds the sum of its parts. Taken together, this research by Best, David McCarthy, and Diana Seave Greenwald presents new ways of reading artworks and primary sources in the field of American art history.In “Archive Matters,” two essays apply inventive methodological questions to American aestheticism, focusing on personal papers at the Archives. Elizabeth Lee revisits her research on Abbott Handerson Thayer by considering what the diary of the artist’s physician-father and period letters might say (or not say) about medical themes in Thayer’s paintings. While archives can appear to their modern users as incoherent or incomplete, Lee advocates for subjecting them to a critical, indeed clinical, gaze that reanimates their contents and thereby an artist’s oeuvre. Erica E. Hirshler brings Thayer into her own reflection on archival absences by looking to the letters he exchanged with fellow painter John Singer Sargent. Hirshler is interested in the gaps in this, like most, archived letters. How do we creatively approach these gaps, Hirshler asks, while remaining critical of the interventions into the historical record that doing so necessitates?With this issue, the journal welcomes curator of African American manuscripts Erin Jenoa Gilbert. This new position is part of the Archives’ African American Collecting Initiative (2018–21), supported by the Henry Luce Foundation. We look forward to Gilbert’s expansion of the collections by and about African American artists, and to the exciting research opportunities her work will surely provide our authors and readers. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Archives of American Art Journal Volume 58, Number 1Spring 2019 Sponsored by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/703658 © 2019 by The Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

«Этот светлый взгляд не знал фальши». Особенности графики ленинградской художницы Веры Милютиной

The article studies the prewar artistic legacy of the Leningrad artist Vera Milyutina (1903-1987). Her most famous work is a graphic series The Hermitage in the Days of the Siege of Leningrad (1942). Art historians have ignored Vera Milyutina’s prewar works, wherefrom springs the relevance of this article. It attempts to analyze Milyutina’s works stored in the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of St. Petersburg. The author sets off to study the documents on Milyutina’s summer trips in 1937-1939, their objects and routes and to analyze the works of art created in these trips and demonstrate their importance for formation of Vera Milyutina’s graphic art. The article draws on unpublished documents, works of art, and photos from the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of St. Petersburg. During her summer trips Vera Milyutina visited different parts of the Soviet Union: Karelia, the Altai, the Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) region. Pencil, ink, and watercolour paintings give an account of Vera Milyutina’s trip to Karelia in 1937. There is an album, which had by some miracle survived the Siege of Leningrad; it is an unique document on her 1938 trip to Altai. It contains drawings, notes, hortus siccus, photos, and documents from the trip. A detailed account of the trip to the Gorky region in 1939 was left in the artist’s diary covering 1939 to 1953 and in her memoirs prepared in 1985. There are numerous drawings of Lake Svetloyar and town Semenov (both in the Gorky region). Art review of materials from the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of St. Petersburg concludes that Vera Milyutina was exacting in her work, followed the principles of academic drawing according to the system of Pavel Chistyakov (Russian artist from St. Petersburg, 1832-1919), and chose timeless subjects for her work. The article can be of use to art historians and archivists, who study the evolution of the Soviet graphic art and biographies of the Leningrad artists.

Uses of archives as creative activity: what does it mean to be creative within the archive and library profession?

Archivists and art librarians are well versed in developing activities and projects using archives and library materials in object-based learning activities and engaging artists and creative practitioners with archives and special collections. But what does framing the uses of archives as creative activity really mean for the way in which we work on a practical level? I expand this question from the initial blog post I wrote: Possibilities of archives (storyingthepast.wordpress.com). Can we, like the creative practitioners we engage with, be truly creative – and if so, what could this look like? It is a pertinent question because creativity, in part, enables us to progress and innovate as the archive and library sectors continue to evolve.I take an interdisciplinary approach to developing workshops as demonstrative case studies, with intersections from archival theory, education, and the visual arts; I first outline what creativity could look like when developing Creative Workshops from within an archival context. I also outline and reflect on how being creative can be beneficial to our profession as well as to the wider arts communities who engage with art archives and special collections.

A Study on Development Strategy of Visual Art Archive

A Study on Development Strategy of Visual Art Archive

Histories and Archives of Chinese Contemporary Art: New and Disparate Elements

The simultaneous publication of three different types of books on Chinese contemporary art confronts readers firstly to a series of booklets on Shanghai that combine personal accounts, analyses and documentation from 1998 to the present, written and published by Davide Quadrio; secondly to a comprehensive historical essay spanning the period from 1989 to 2016, written by Lu Peng, an institutionally well-integrated art historian who is attempting to build a properly Chinese general history; an...

“My Passion is Farming as my Profession and a Hobby”. Uncharted Correspondence of Maria Rodziewiczówna from 1908 ― some Additional Facts of the Author’s Biography


 [full article, abstract in Polish; abstract in Lithuanian and English]
 The main aim of the research is connected with two postcards and two letters that were sent in 1908 to Helena Hurynowicz by the writer Maria Rodziewiczówna (1864– 1944). These objects were found in the collection of The Lithuanian Literature and Art Archives (Lietuvos literatūros i meno archyvas, F43, ap. 1, b. 46), and identified in 2006. The main theme of this correspondence is about everyday life, even trade and business but not literature. The addressee is not a well-known person, that is Helena Hurynowicz. During Rodziewiczówna’s absence in her manor, Helena’s duty, as we can guess, was to take care of the writer’s house in Hruszczowa (Grodno District).

Art Histories of Excess: Hammad Nasar in Conversation with Karin Zitzewitz

Asia Art Archive (AAA) is an independent nonprofit organization founded in 2000 by Claire Hsu and Johnson Chang in Hong Kong to address the need to document and make accessible the recent art histo...

Peter Hulton on Dartington College of Arts

In this interview Peter Hulton discusses the role of training at Dartington College of Arts (DCA) between 1969 and 1990, the history of the Dartington project, its Arts Centre, the College and specifically the structure and development of the Theatre Department. As a leading educator within the Theatre Department and Principal of the College, Hulton offers insight into the choices behind, and application of, DCA’s pedagogy of learning by doing. This pedagogy and the structure of the Theatre Department is connected to the Dartington project’s main aims of community, reconstruction and internationalism. The interview ends with discussion of the creation of Theatre Papers and its successor Arts Archives.

Nahum Lipowski (1874–1928). Jewish theatre and film

A significant part of the 20th century film and theatre posters preserved and stored in the Lithuanian archives of literature and art are related to the Nahum Lipowski Jewish Folk Theatre. The research focuses on the analysis of Lipowski and his works. It indicates that little attention has been devoted to the influence of Lipowski as a director and scriptwriter on silent film industry. The data yielded by this study prove convincing evidence that the beginning of silent film in Lithuania, film making tendencies and the history of Jewish theatre are related. The works of Nahum Lipowski and his biographical facts are a great illustrative example of the cultural life in the late 19th and early 20th century. This study can also clarify some aspects and fill the knowledge gap of the Jewish enlightenment movement followers.

Researching Irish art in its educational context

Documentary sources for Irish art are widely scattered and vulnerable. The art library of the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts was destroyed by bombardment during the Rising of 1916 against British rule. The absence of degree courses in art history delayed the development of art libraries until the 1960s when art history degrees were established at University College Dublin, and Trinity College Dublin. In the 1970s the state founded the Regional Technical Colleges all over Ireland with their art and design courses. Modern approaches to art education had transformed the education of artists and designers with a new emphasis on concept rather than skill acquisition. This led to theoretical teaching and the growth of art sections in the college libraries. Well qualified graduates and staff led the way in the universities and colleges to a greater emphasis on research. Archive centres of documentation on Irish art opened at the National Gallery of Ireland, Trinity College and the Irish Architectural Archive. At NCAD the National Irish Visual Arts Archive (NIVAL) became the main depository for documentation on 20th century Irish art and design. Many other libraries exist with holdings of relevance to the history of Irish art, notably the National Library of Ireland, the Royal Irish Academy, the Royal Dublin Society, the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and the National Archives.

Case study: Digitising Cleveland Museum of Art history one negative at a time

The Cleveland Museum of Art Archives holds a collection of over 120,000 photographic negatives in a variety of sizes and formats documenting museum exhibitions, events, buildings, objects and people from 1914 to the early 2000s. An important asset to the institution, a portion of the collection was prioritised for digitisation and a team of library and archives staff worked together to make the many choices necessary to begin the project successfully. Always mindful of the costs and benefits of decisions regarding technical specifications, scanning procedures, metadata collection and access systems, the team strived for a ‘good enough’ approach that would make the most efficient use of available resources.

M. S. Bazykin as a critic and book art theorist

The scientific heritage of M. S. Bazykin is small, but still of considerable interest for book art researchers. In particular, he contributed much to study, description and promotion of a book sign as a phenomenon. His works on the book plates are written with a clear understanding of very special problems of this type of graphics. The scholar considers bookplate as a sort of an allegorical portrait of the owner giving an idea of his personality, profession, circle of interests, aesthetic preferences, composition and nature of his library. A bookplate should have succinct and laconic expressiveness, as well as ought to fit easily into the book artistic structure. In accordance with these requirements the art critic evaluated works by I. N. Pavlov, A. I. Kravchenko, M. V. Matorin, N. V. Puzyrevskiy, and other artists, demonstrating a broad spectrum of aesthetic views, delving into the essence of a creative method of each author. In his reviews touching the book graphics, M. S. Bazykin paid a special attention to details of their design, demonstrating his evident preference of strict and severe designer solutions. He was annoyed by ostentatious luxury of certain editions motivated by neither their content, nor readers′ target audience. At the same time he was interested and almost always favourable towards art editions realized in the provinces. Important and significant judgments, concerning prominent publishers and printers, designers and polygraphists of those years should be found in his still unpublished texts stored in the Russian state archive of Literature and Art (RGALI). For instance, in his reports Bazykin analyzes causes of disastrous situation with newly released art books, considering except for design merits and shortcoming various other factors of economical, sociological and management characters. In his papers the scientist poses a fundamentally important question: who of contemporary book designers can be considered as a real book artist, equally competent in both technical and aesthetic aspects. Strictly speaking, besides rare exceptions, such universal «artists-designers» didn′t exist for that moment, but it were them, whom Bazykin pinned his hopes on radical renewal of image of Russian book with. Undoubtedly, should his talent develop under favorable conditions, he might have easily become one of the most respected and competent scholars of book art. However, he managed to do quite a lot even in the short time period allotted to him.

A Study Of Digital Record Storage Management Institutions In Art Archive Indonesian Visual Art Archive

This study aims to determine the digital archive storage management conducted Indonesian Visual Art Archive which includes the acceptance stage archive, metadata archives, archive conversion, digital archive storage, retrieval and archive and archive evaluation stage. The location of this research done in archives art Yogyakarta Indonesian Visual Art Archive. The method used in the study used a qualitative approach with case study. As for the technique of data collection is done through observation, interview and literature study. Based on the results of this research note that the digital archive management activities undertaken archives art Yogyakarta Indonesian Visual Art Archive is a form of awareness of the importance of art as archive footage of historical development and culture. As for the digital archive management activities are some steps being taken begins with the acceptance of the archive, metadata archives, archive conversion, digital archive storage, retrieval and archive and archive evaluation stage. In this digital archive management does not have a cycle of destruction of records for each archive is a work of art performers. In addition, the digital archive storage management activities in archives art Yogyakarta Indonesian Visual Art Archive is supported by a clear procedural system.

Social and political life of Ingush emigrants in Europe (1920-1940)

In the 20th century there were several emigration flows of the Ingush to Europe. The first mass emigration took place in the post-revolutionary period. After 1917, the centres of the social, political and cultural activities of the Ingush Diaspora were Paris, Berlin, Prague and Warsaw. In that period, most Ingush emigrants belonged to the military, political and scientific-cultural elite, which explains the high level of the social and cultural values created by them in foreign countries. It is the social and political life and the spiritual heritage of the Ingush emigrants, being abroad for certain reasons in different historical periods, which is a very interesting subject for research. The article analyzes the process of theformationoftheinstitutionalbasisoftheIngushpost-revolutionarycommunityinEurope. There is shown the role of public figures, in particular S. Malsagov and the Dzhabagiev brothers, who made a significant contribution to the development of the Ingush spiritual culture and science. The author notes that the most visible in the public and political life of the North Caucasian post-revolutionary community in Europe were the activities of the organizations and movements, which sympathized with the ideas of the Caucasus independence. As a result of the research, the author comes to the conclusion that the socio-political associations of the North Caucasian emigrants in Western Europe played a significant role in the socio-cultural adaptation of national communities of peoples of the North Caucasus abroad. Although the process of the social and cultural integration was rather difficult and long, the Ingush Diaspora preserved its national identity. The article is based on the memoirs, emigrant periodicals and electronic publications devoted to the problems of the political-legal and socio-cultural adaptation of the Ingush immigrants in Europe. In order to analyze the history of the Ingush emigrants, there are also presented unpublished documents stored in the Russian state archive of literature and art (RGALI).

Наукова співпраця І.Я. Франка та В.М. Перетца (за епістолярними джерелами)

Important source of a research of scientific activity and cooperation between outstanding Ukrainian scientists and organizers of national scientific life at the beginning of the 20th century, I. Ya. Franko and V. M. Peretts is their correspondence. The epistolary heritage of scientists is stored in the archives of Ukraine and Russia. I. Ya. Franko and V. M. Peretts’s correspondence which is stored in Department of manuscripts and textual studies of Shevchenko Institute of literature of the NAS of Ukraine and in the Russian state archive of literature and art became a source of article. The article studies, in addition to correspondence between scientists, V. M. Peretts’ letters to P. H. Zhytetskiy and M. S. Hrushevskyi, which refers to the scientific relationship between I. Ya. Franko and V. M. Peretts. Long-term scientific cooperation and the creative relations between the ingenious Ukrainian writer, the literary critic and the specialist in drama study I. Ya. Franko and the Ukrainian and Russian philologist, the researcher of ancient Ukrainian literature V. M. Peretts are covered in article on the basis of the analysis of epistolary documents. Their activities in research on manuscripts and studies on history of the Ukrainian literature and theatre are represented in the article. The mutual respect and appreciation of scientific achievements of each other are the cornerstone of broad scientific cooperation of scientists. The article pays attention to an active position of V. M. Peretts concerning establishment departments on study Ukrainian history, literature, language, ethnography and the right at the universities of Ukraine. The scientist’s initiative of establishment the department of Ukrainian and dialectology at the St. Volodymyr University in Kyiv is displayed. The head of the department V. M. Peretts found out that I. Ya. Franko’s activity in Kyiv could contribute to the development of the Ukrainian science and education.