‘The archivist as activist’: “It is impossible not to be struck by the symbiotic relationship between the archivist and the activist – two roles that are fully dependent on each other. Activism generates archives, archives generate activism – and so forth.”

Experimental Jetset (2018)

RE:ACTIVATE is a project by Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee contributor Femke Dekker and focusses on the reciprocal relationship between media and activism and to disclose the strategies used to reinforce and exploit each-other’s mechanisms. Part of Open Archief - a multifaceted, collaborative research project that makes archival material accessible to artists for creative reuse - RE:ACTIVATE equally investigates the relation between archives and activism and will for the period of residency involve the archives of all three participating institutes. The archives affiliated with Open Archief are Het Nieuwe Instituut (HNI), The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Sound and Vision), and the International Institute of Social History (IISH).

RE:ACTIVATE ‘The Archivist as Activist’ is an open dialogue with Clara Still-Haardt (Archivist HNI), Eric de Ruijter (General Manager Collections IISH) and Erik Lucassen (Archive Researcher Sound and Vision), discussing their various roles within the collection of their respective institutes, the renewed interest in archives in general and how or if activism comes into play?