The Expanding the Study of Performance in Women Artists' Archives project interrogates the historiography of feminist performance art in the collections of our large research institution. Our project team, composed of members from various departments, brings diverse perspectives and expertise to the initiative, currently working toward the organization of an exhibition highlighting the work by a feminist activist art collective, whose archive resides in our institution.
The exhibition is structured around the art collective's aesthetic and conceptual strategies: the use of anonymity in institutional critique; data collection and research; the rhetoric and participatory utility of letter writing; mass media distribution; and performative actions. By focusing on these thematic throughlines in the collectives' work, the exhibition showcases their collaboration, sheds light on the research embedded in their activism and artmaking, and examines their ongoing commitment to public participation. The art collective central to our current investigative activities acted as an institutional entity, with strategies that reflect our own professional practices within a large cultural framework.
Our research team's collaborative model echoes the ethics of the collective we are studying. This proposed roundtable seeks to cultivate a generative dialogue around collective activities within participants' institutions, and to explore how research material and subjects can inform ethical approaches to institutional engagement.
We aspire to foster a conversation where shared collaborative practices lead to creative endeavors and common goals, particularly within feminist methodologies. The discussion will engage participants by addressing the following overarching question: How can the content of feminist collections material or radical artistic practices more broadly be allowed to impact upon our institutional working practices?
Themes that have guided our team's research and exhibition strategies may also be explored in the context of professional practice among discussion participants: To what extent do feminist methodologies inform your own projects? How does your personal identity shape your approach to institutional initiatives? Are there collections in your institution that reflect your own or aspirational collaborative practices? How do you measure the impact of feminist methodologies on your work? How can you address and critique inequities within your institution's collection models?
