Archival Thinking: Artist Archive Symposium

On December 4, 2025, Archival Thinking: Artist Archive Symposium will be held at the Kunsthalle Gallery of MoMA PS1 in New York. Jointly organized by the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) and the Cai Foundation, the symposium will be curated and moderated by Paul Holdengräber. The event will take the form of a full-day forum bringing together distinguished speakers from the fields of art, archives, and the humanities to explore the contemporary significance and future potential of art archives, followed by a reception.

When an archive ceases to be a static repository and becomes a continuously generative way of thinking, it records not only the past but also reveals the unformed thoughts, emotions, and potential within the creative process. Many artists begin building their archives only later in their careers to preserve their work and legacy—often resulting in fragmented narratives and gaps in memory. Archival Thinking: Artist Archive Symposium aims to encourage early-career artists, students, archivists, and cultural practitioners to explore the possibilities of archiving from an earlier stage—viewing archives as an integral part of creation rather than as post hoc documentation.

The lineup of speakers spans across art, archival studies, literature and translation, and philosophy and intellectual history, including: Ross Benjamin (translator of The Diaries of Franz Kafka), Mel Yimeng Chu (archives manager of Cai Guo-Qiang Archive), Lisa Darms (former Executive Director of Hauser & Wirth Institute), Samantha Rose Hill (scholar of Hannah Arendt), Jennifer Wen Ma (interdisciplinary visual artist), Glenn Phillips (Chief Curator, Getty Research Institute), Rani Singh (Director, Harry Smith Archives), David Walker (Archivist, the Easton Foundation) and Martha Wilson (Founder, Franklin Furnace Archive). Speakers listed alphabetically by last name.

Through keynote presentations, curator-led dialogues, and roundtable discussions, the symposium will address questions such as: How do archives shape art history and contemporary art practice? What is the symbiotic relationship between art and archives? And how can archives evolve from ‘repositories of preservation’ into a ‘generational protocol’ in an era increasingly defined by the technological mediation of memory itself?

The symposium is inspired by the moment thirty years ago when Cai Guo-Qiang, as a recipient of the Asian Cultural Council Fellowship, moved from Tokyo to New York and embarked from PS1 on his artistic career on the international stage—a history that continues to symbolize the mutual empowerment of art and archival practice. This event uses that history as a point of departure, transforming the archive itself into a new narrative center—one that fosters interdisciplinary and international dialogue and intergenerational collaboration, inviting artists, archivists, and curious learners to collectively redefine how knowledge is preserved, reimagined, and shared.

Archival Thinking seeks to open the door for a new generation—to discover the power, purpose, promise, and pleasure of the archival practice. Reminding us that an archive is not merely a vessel of memory, but also a tool for action, inviting each creator to adopt archiving as a method to redefine the future of art.

Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to delve into the world of artist archives!