BIRCA has been working for a while with a vision of collecting and sharing the knowledge and experience that is created in the artistic research that precedes finished works and productions. Knowledge that is all too often lost because it is difficult to collect and describe and therefore also difficult to archive and pass on. The project of a new archive for artistic research processes is now being realized with a grant from the Bikubenfonden.
Susanne Danig, head of BIRCA, states:
With the grant behind us, we can now start a process that focuses on how we can document and pass on the knowledge collected, so that it can be accumulated and used for further inspiration for other artists who want to work with related topics – we hope we can thereby create a transfer of knowledge and make it easier to exchange experiences.
In the construction of the archive for artistic processes, BIRCA will try to take into account as much as possible the tactility of the archived material and its interactive element. BIRCA will also contribute to the development of a language for artistic research that can support a communication that goes beyond the dialogue with colleagues and involves the surrounding society.
BIRCA, who works internationally with the independent performing arts and especially focuses on the new ecological performing arts, has already launched a pilot project where knowledge and materials are collected from artists who are in recidency. The intention is to create an international starting point for the archive model and also to inspire use of the archive model internationally, i.a. through the Island Connect project, which has support from Creative Europe.
Involvement of expertise
The ultimate goal of the archive is to create an archive that reaches out widely and has broad value for both visual artists and performing artists. Therefore, BIRCA will discuss the project along the way and exchange experiences with researchers, development partners and other stakeholders.
BIRCA will have a close dialogue with amoung others Danish organisations Haut, Bora-Bora, Udviklingsplatformen, Eartwise Residency, Danish Dance Histories and from the University of Copenhagen/Performance Studies Laura Louise Schultz, Karen Vedel and Cecilie Ullerup Schmidt participate with input. Andrea Deres and Carolina Bäckman are consultants on the project.
In the coming months, BIRCA will reach out to projects and organizations also in the field of visual arts and to international knowledge partners and archive projects.
The pilot project will be documented and put into context in articles that form part of a publication on archives for artistic processes, which will be published in connection with an international knowledge sharing seminar in December 2024.