Dr Molly Drummond

Abstract

This visual essay concerns the generative capacities of loss in the production and maintenance of community archives and archiving communities. In archival sites, the loss of space through the collection of items, as well as degradation and wear and tear, is a concern that traditional archival practice seeks to address, manage, and mitigate. However, through the discussion of two case studies—a participatory arts company in Stoke on Trent and zine archives and libraries in Manchester and Birmingham—loss can materialize as presence, through damp and clutter, evidence of community activity, and debate and discussion. Furthermore, the author argues that loss is generative of archives themselves by drawing from the ongoing work in the two sites, as well as the emergence of archival practice and debates specific to the communities themselves.

This article documents the roundtable “Unfamiliar Archives,” which took place as part of a two-day event to mark twenty years of Cultural Politics. Drawing from a range of “archives in the making” related to activists, artists, social theorists, and digital media practices, the participants reflect on the political, ethical, and epistemological provocations offered by their specific archival encounters. In particular, the participants reflect on the way their experiences of negotiating archives were inflected by their own initial unfamiliarity with the norms and protocols of archival research. To conceptualize these experiences, the participants orient their discussion around three terms that, they suggest, are generative for evoking the cultural politics of contemporary archives: estrangement, secrets, and loss.