Interference Archive
Interference Archive | |
---|---|
40°40′21″N 73°59′29″W / 40.672487°N 73.991402°W | |
Location | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
Type | Archive |
Established | 2011 |
Other information | |
Website | http://interferencearchive.org/ |
Interference Archive is a volunteer-run
History
Interference Archive began as the personal collection of
In 2010 MacPhee and Greenwald moved their collection to a warehouse in
The rising prominence and popularity of the Occupy movement emerged as one specific motivation around the time of the Archive's opening, when its founders observed among Occupy participants a need for information about social movements of the past.[10][11]
Interference Archive has broadened its activities significantly since opening, operating as a library and community space and hosting regular talks, art exhibitions, performances, workshops, and other events.
The Guardian's Edward Helmore, assessing the place of the Archive among other arts institutions, described it as "far removed from the realm of commercial art galleries, oligarch collectors, the show-palace museums of billionaire real estate developers, and under the watch of gun-toting revolutionaries from several decades back — and is far the richer for it."[10]
As of 2014[update] it operates on a yearly budget of less than $25,000, supported primarily by donations from a community of financial sustainers.[2]
In October 2017, after being evicted from their space in Gowanus, the archive relocated to the nearby
Collection
The archive is housed in an open floor-plan storefront space, filled to the ceiling.
MacPhee summarizes the conceptual basis for the collection as "material produced by people organizing to transform the world".[10]
The owners and volunteers take a pointedly nontraditional approach to
Events and activities
In addition to its primary purpose as an archive and library, Interference Archive also functions as a multipurpose community center, gallery, and events space.[2][5] Past events and exhibitions have covered prison reform,[14][15] the Asian American movement in New York,[16][17] underground newspapers,[18] the anti-nuclear movement,[19] and Art+Feminism edit-a-thons.[20]
Armed by Design, a 2015 exhibition, comprised graphic art from
In addition to historical materials and preexisting cultural products, the Archive occasionally commissions artists to produce original work. For Armed by Design, the 60s and 70s graphics were supplemented by a new set of topical posters.[10] Another exhibit, if a song could be freedom... Organized Sounds of Resistance, included a series of annotated mixtapes compiled by musicians, historians, and activists.[10]
One exhibit in April 2013 featured "book blocs", home-made
Since 2015, volunteers have hosted a podcast which highlights material in the collections and associated exhibits.[11]
References
- ^ "Interference Archive | Our Mission". Retrieved 2019-11-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lau, Maya (19 July 2013). "The Activism Files". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ Denda, Kayo; Vidal, Lucky (31 May 2013). "Academic Libraries Advancing Transnational Feminism". Ifla Wlic 2013.
- ^ Lakakis, Eleftheria (21 October 2014). ""We're Doing It Slow" -- Community Archives as Protest Spaces". Re.Framing Activism Blog. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bader, Eleanor J. (4 October 2012). "In the Archives of Interference". The Brooklyn Rail. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Vartanian, Hrag (25 October 2008). "Exit Art's "Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now" Exhibition". Flickr. Archived from the original on 2022-01-04. Retrieved 2015-01-28.
- ^ a b "Our Mission". Interference Archive.
- ^ a b c d e "The Interference Archive Documents Radical History". Library Juice. 10 April 2012. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Hong, Oliver. "Interference Archive: Volunteer-run library dedicated to exploring five decades of activism history". Atlas Obscura. Archived from the original on 2015-02-05. Retrieved 2015-01-28.
- ^ a b c d e f Helmore, Edward (14 October 2015). "Collecting the art of protest at Brooklyn's Interference Archive". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Morley, Madeleine (February 16, 2018). "How New York's Interference Archive Keeps Activist Design History Alive". AIGA Eye on Design. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ "no. NOT EVER. at Interference Archive". Interference Archive Events. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- ^ Davis, Ben (24 June 2013). "Alternatives [VIDEO]: The Interference Archive in Gowanus". Blouin Artinfo. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ McCallister, Jared (14 September 2014). "Distorted and inaccurate mainstream media coverage marred the West Indian American Day Carnival parade – and others also took aim at the Labor Day festival". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Steinhauer, Jillian (16 October 2014). "Your Concise Guide to Gowanus Open Studios 2014". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Havis, Richard James (9 February 2014). "New York exhibition celebrates awakening of Asian-American identity in the 1970s". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ "Interference Archive Exhibition and Open House". Library Manifesto. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 30 January 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Trofimenkov, Mikhail (26 July 2013). "Camera for the Faith [Google Translate]". Kommersant (in Russian). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ "Interference Archive, Open House, Screening and Exhibition: "RadioActivity!: Films from the Anti-nuclear Movement in Japan"". New York City Archivists. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Lavin, Talia (11 March 2016). "A Feminist Edit-a-Thon Seeks to Reshape Wikipedia". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
- ^ a b Barliant, Claire (1 May 2013). "Reach for the Book -- It Is a Weapon". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Lau, Maya (30 April 2013). "In Defense of Education, Books as Armor". The 6th Floor. The New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
Further reading
- Morley, Madeleine (February 16, 2018). "How New York's Interference Archive Keeps Activist Design History Alive". AIGA Eye on Design. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.