Symposium Kunstenaars en archieven

Jubilee member artist Ronny Heiremans presents Eavatea at the ‘Kunstenaars en Archieven: De Toekomst van Archivering in de Beeldende Kunst’ (Artists and Archives: The Future of Archiving in the Visual Arts), Museum van Bommel van Dam, Venlo (NL)
08/09/2025

More and more artists are developing innovative ways to archive their work, blurring the lines between artwork and archive. What questions does this raise for archival institutions? What are the challenges and opportunities? And how can artists and archives collaborate and learn from one another?

On Monday, September 8, these questions will take center stage during the symposium Artists and Archives: The Future of Archiving in the Visual Arts, organized in collaboration with the anniversary-celebrating Stichting Behoud Moderne Kunst (SBMK), the Municipal Archive of Venlo, and the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE). The symposium highlights how art and archive are becoming increasingly intertwined. Together with artists, scholars, archivists, and policymakers, we will reflect on what this means for the future.

The program features lectures and panel discussions with, among others, Ernst van Alphen (publicist and former professor), Setareh Noorani (researcher/curator at Het Nieuwe Instituut), and representatives from archival institutions such as CKV Antwerp and the Amsterdam City Archives. The symposium offers a unique opportunity to explore the challenges and possibilities of new forms of archiving.

Several case studies will also be presented, including the work of artist Pii Daenen, who in 2022 published an artistic summary of his oeuvre in the form of the book Pii-Files 505. With its dual status as both artwork and document, the book posed thought-provoking challenges for the Venlo Municipal Archive, which had acquired Daenen’s archive back in 2016.

The symposium is an initiative of Jos de Jong (former archivist, Municipality of Venlo), Christiane Berndes (art historian and curator), Annet Dekker (researcher and curator), and Mat Verberkt (journalist and curator).

 

Detail of the programme

10:50 – 11:10 Keynote: Ernst van Alphen (Emeritus Professor of Literary Studies)
On the productive and non-productive aspects of the archive, with a focus on how artists work with archives. What makes their approaches distinctive and relevant?

11:10 – 11:20 Q&A with the speaker

11:20 – 12:10 Short presentations of notable artist archives:

Mat Verberkt (journalist and curator) in conversation with artist Pii Daenen on the Pii-Files

Anne Geene (artist and photographer)

Joep Vossebeld (curator and artist) on the archive of Ine Schröder

Christiane Berndes (art historian and curator) on the Arte Útil archive of Tania Bruguera

Ronny Heiremans (artist and member of Jubilee, platform for artistic research, Brussels)

12:10 – 12:40 Panel discussion

 

Practical information
€75 excl. VAT, including lunch / €35 excl. VAT for students
The fee includes a copy of Pii-Files 505, an artist’s book by Pii Daenen encompassing his complete work archive. Free admission for staff of museums that contribute annually to SBMK.

Location:
Museum van Bommel van Dam
Keulsepoort 1
5911 BX Venlo