The project Telling Histories was developed on the history of the Munich Kunstverein (KVM), using its entire archive and observing the memory of three exhibitions in particular. To begin developing an interpretation of the institution’s history, the archive had to be properly organized from the pile of documents stored in the building’s basement and unavailable to the public. Although referring to a technical procedure, the arrangement of the material in different collections was an integral part of the work and an initial drive that lent possible a comprehension about the institution and drawing its history.
The archived documents were sorted into collections of photographic material, catalogues, invitations, and posters, then stored separately and identified. The contents of the document boxes were entered in a database especially built as a tool for interpreting the Kunstverein. The organized data then allowed for the construction of narratives about the institution’s history and for the identification of any gaps or discrepancies in documentation, while showing that replicating reality was unattainable. Finally, the archive was brought to the exhibition space for display and some of its compiled collections were made accessible to the public. The database became available for consultation and wall texts containing fragmentary narratives were assembled from documents organized, mapped, and interpreted.
[2003] INSTALLATION: prepared/ classified archive and edited selected contents; database [in collaboration with Dário de Moura]; drawings/ wall texts [cut vinyl, in collaboration with Liam Gillick].