The Shadow Archive is a living archive of self-organised art spaces established in 2015. It is an ongoing project driven by the conviction that these are important sites in the future of how art is made, used and sustained within society. The Shadow Archive operates on the belief that artist-led self-organisation can, and does, form a counter-narrative – a shadow – to the dominant art world. Whether through necessity, desire, or both, artists and curators are creating their own contexts to produce, exhibit, distribute and use art. The Shadow Archive aims to reflect and gather these activities and to establish a critical mass of practices and ideas that are occurring in often overlooked and temporary contexts.
We are using archival standards of cataloguing and storage to offer a subjective means for the spaces we work with to preserve their ideologies, activities, ideas, creations and research. We also want to create a strong international network to enable sharing, collaboration, and promotion for those striving to organise and attempt alternative models of art production, distribution and exhibition.
The Shadow Archive is working towards a publicly accessible and dedicated website with an integrated content management system for the display and organisation of its collection. Please visit the ‘Ambitions‘ page to read more about the future of The Shadow Archive.
theshadowarchive.wordpress.com 