Penser l’archive photographique au XXIe siècle

This symposium has considered three key questions, each of them being developed in short presentations by three professionals who are pleased to speak from their own experiences with photographic archives and collections.
The key questions are:
Why do we collect and preserve photographs?
Who do we preserve them for?
What should we preserve?

> Why do we collect and preserve photographs?

Ruud Visschedijk, director of the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam, Joshua Chuang, curator at Yale University Art Gallery, and Yasmine Eid-Sabbagh, member of the Arab Image Foundation attempt to answer respond to this fundamental question taking their own institutions as examples.

> Who do we preserve them for?

Jeu de Paume has invited Hilde Van Gelder, in charge of the Lieven Gevaert Research Centre for Photography, Rona Sela, independent curator working in Tel Aviv, and Christophe Kihm, who is currently preparing an exhibition entitled “Archives sauvages”. As scholars and curators, they work with archives and collections, revealing part of these and constructing history, influenced by their personal points of view.

> What should we preserve?

Collecting means selecting. Jeu de Paume invited Sarah Morthland, who oversees several large private photography collections and as such, also works as an acquisition advisor, Alejandro Castellanos, director at the Centro de la Imagen in Mexico, and Inka Graeve Ingelmann, curator at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.

With the support of
Shpilman Institute for Photography
SIP (The Shpilman Institute for Photography) is a research institute that aspires to facilitate, promote, initiate research, open debate and creative work in the field of photography and video. Its mission is to initiate and support innovative research and artistic production that advance the understanding of photography and related media.

In collaboration with
the service culturel de l’Ambassade d’Israël à Paris
and the Instituto Cultural de México (Paris)