The Living Archive Project - explores representations of archival materials in a live context and the creation of a site for collective memory.
Using previously unseen archival footage from the private collections of some of Aotearoa’s female performance makers work produced 1970-2000, we investigate the position of camera as objective record keeper and the (usually unseen) role of editor. These modes are playfully contrasted against a participatory experience, inviting an imaginative engagement with archival materials. ‘Auditionees’ participate in the creation of collective memory by performing filmed reenactments of archival materials.
These materials are then remixed using video editing, green screen, and captioning by an editor, producing new video artifacts onsite. These videos will be presented alongside the original footage.
The project draws on traditions of storytelling and embodied histories, destabilising traditional notions of historical authority and accuracy by presenting interpretation and reinterpretation with the same validity as the original archival footage.