'Encountering the Oude Kerk Archive': UvA Workshop, MA Museum Studies

"Each library is a unique hypothesis about reality - the contents of the archive not only establish the essential themes of reality, but also the nature of its inhabitants and the stories they tell" (from 'Overmorrow's Library', Epsiode 1 - by Federico Campagna)

During a three-hour workshop session, MA Museum Studies students from the University of Amsterdam explored the physical space of the Oude Kerk as well as the digital spheres of its ongoing Open Archive Project.

The hundreds of tombstones, the permanent works of art, and the monumental interior have all been documented well. But how can the recent history of the Oude Kerk – the temporary large-scale interventions by contemporary artists and the diverse public programme consisting of performances and concerts – be added to this? Is the concept of the Living Archive a helpful tool to reactivate and rethink the ever-changing archival holdings? What, then, are the specific characteristics of a Living Archive / an Open Archive / a Participatory Archive? During the workshop, they delved deeper into challenges surrounding archiving and discussed topics such as hidden and contested voices from the archive, the archvie as storyteller, critical fabulation, the tranmission of cultural identity through archives, the existence of Dead Archives, the difference between libraries, archives, and museums, as well as steps to re-activate (in)tangible records.