Archives & Utopia [en] DNA #14

Following the archivist’s desire to select, categorize, and store past and present runs the risk of perpetuating hegemonic ways of thinking. For anticipating what will be of importance in the future is closely tied in with present-day realities and power structures. As a counterpoint to this, the volume looks at archives as spaces of alternative research and production sites of utopias relating to possible futures. Paul Scheerbart’s futuristic 1910 novella, Zack und Sidi und der große Kopf (Zack and Sidi and the Big Head), in which two inhabitants of the planet Ceres reflect on knowledge production and identity, is the starting point for genre-busting ruminations on mechanisms, methods, and tools for designing views of potential worlds and forms of archival activism.

With contributions by Daniela Agostinho, Marwa Arsanios, Ariella Azoulay, Black Quantum Futurism, Lama El Khatib, Doreen Mende and Paul Scheerbart.