River People

A Book that Opens is being “written” by poets Paul Collis (Barkindji), Jen Crawford and Paul Magee of the University of Canberra, Australia, along with five indigenous interlocutors from Bourke and Brewarrina, in Barkindji and Nyempa Country, outback New South Wales. The work comprises 11 chapters of conversations about river …

Agents of Deterioration

Youssef with Curly Hair: Navigating the Ethics of Digital Trauma Archives and AI Imagery

From mere tools of communication, social media platforms have become vast repositories of collective memories, especially in times of conflict. Archiving traumatic events on these platforms weaves a complex web of emotional responses, shared experiences, and collective trauma. In that respect, digital content could be used to encapsulate …

Digital Memory Archiving: The Oral Narratives by the Residents of Karantina

This essay reflects on the project “Oral Narratives by the Residents of Karantina”, a digital platform mapping georeferenced stories narrated by the residents of Karantina. The project was conducted by the Beirut Urban Lab under the umbrella of the Imagining Futures following the Beirut port blast of 2020. The …

Grounds to Play

Adventure Play Hub is the oldest adventure playground in West London; established in 1957, it has supported generations of local families and children aged 4–12. An invitation in 2020 to assist them in updating their on-site mural, developed instead into a three-year lesson from the children in how to take …

Living Archives [Archivo Vivo]: Weaving gendered (hi)stories of territorial reclamation

The Living Archive of Moravia is a collaborative project that documents stories of territorial reclamation in Moravia (Medellín, Colombia) as part of the city's living heritage. It frames living archives as a decolonial, feminist methodology to re-centre life and imagine relational ways of thinking and being for reclaiming urban space …

Words Into Actions for Egalitarian Archival Practice: Digitisation of the Herbarium (BIA)

Herbaria play a crucial role in the preservation, of botanical knowledge and heritage, and support related scientific research. The digitisation of herbaria creates new opportunities for accessibility, research, and public engagement. This document aims to provide a brief practical and accessible guide for the digital curation of botanical collections, based …

Re-archiving and digitising the BIA Herbarium

Archives and collections represent a unique piece of history, containing narratives, insights, and perspectives (Borsch et al., 2020, p.4). The digitisation of miscellaneous archives -which can range from historical manuscripts, drawings, or museum materials to biological materials such as herbarium specimens- is an important effort to preserve cultural heritage and …