[Commlist] CFP: Shaking the Archive - Reconsidering the Role of Archives in Contemporary Society

*/CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Papers, Presentations, Performances, Reflections/*

*/Shaking the Archive - Reconsidering the Role of Archives in 
Contemporary Society/*

A multidisciplinary Conference that Interrogates the Power of and in 
Archives

The last decade has seen an exponential rise in scholarly work on 
archives and preservation. Certainly, the contribution of archival 
research and practice has brought about individual and sometimes heroic 
efforts to safeguard the future of a little-known or under-explored 
history and its ephemera. This approach is relevant to most disciplines: 
culture, the arts, healthcare, sociology, and governance expend 
significant energy on archives, archiving, and safeguarding past objects 
and knowledge.

Questions around the role(s) of cultural memory and archives in the 
present challenge sectors to reflect on how we can collectively rethink 
the (opportunistic) use of these individual and institutional archives. 
These physical materials are increasingly pertinent in the face of the 
ubiquity of our digital world. The questions we want to ask are: Where 
is ‘history’ located if we’re constantly looking to the future? How can 
contemporary communities engage with ‘old’ ephemera? What is the 
‘correct’ form of an archive? What is the role archives play in 
remembering? How do institutions make visible/and/accessible their 
archival materials? How can personal, national, and global archives 
better act as a collective memory? What/is/collective memory? What are 
the gaps in knowledge and how do we deal with unknown histories? What 
practices and methodologies are in place to engage with the vulnerable 
materialities of and in archives? How do we ethically deal with 
ownership and how do we effectively decolonize archives? How do we deal 
with the embodied memory of the past in the form of living and 
vulnerable archives? How can embodied memory shape archive? What tools 
would allow us to engage and interact with the polyphonic documentation 
of archives? How can archives better serve the specific communities of 
which they are the cultural product?

This 2-day conference will be hosted by*Queen Margaret University in 
Edinburgh on 23-24 June 2023*. It aims to engage with diverse sectors 
and subject areas to explore how archives can be interrogated, 
reimagined, and represented. We invite a deeper reflection around 
elements that are left out of mainstream historiography and expand 
knowledge beyond the surface of the visible.We effectively want to 
challenge, deconstruct and expand the power dynamics inherent to general 
or institutional knowledge.

We invite international scholars and practitioners to propose individual 
papers, panels of 4 presentations, or artistic/creative responses to the 
theme of “shaking the archive.”Deadline for proposals is Monday 9 
January 2023.Alongside the presentations, we will organise an 
exhibition, a film screening, and an excursion to a local archive for 
delegates attending in person. There is a small delegate registration 
fee of up to £50, to help fund the running of the conference.

To submit a proposal or for any further information, please contact Dr 
Stefanie Van de Peer (onsvandepeer /at/ qmu.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(svandepeer /at/ qmu.ac.uk)>by Monday 9 January 2023. Please send 
300-word proposals + 100-word bios.


*Organising Committee: *Sana Bilgrami,Rebecca Finkel,Andy Henry,Karl 
Johnson, Bianca Mastominico,Anthony Schrag, Stefanie Van de Peer,Linnea 
Wallen


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