Another archive is possible

ABSTRACT

There’s a classic motto that reads like this: Another world is possible. The aim of this study is to reflect: Is another archive possible? Are the archives created with the collection of material from social movements, such as the 15 M movement in Spain, or from the public’s repulsion towards terrorist attacks, as happened with the September 11 terrorist attack in the United States, or the 11 March 2004 (11M) attack in Madrid, really archives? This is what the author will investigate in this paper.

KEYWORDS:

• Archives
• record management
• special archives

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Rodney GS Carter, ‘Of Things Said and Unsaid: Power, Archival Silences, and Power in Silence’, Archivaria, vol. 61, Spring 2006, p. 216.

2. It became popular with the so-called anti-globalisation movement, one of whose founding texts (from the Commitment of Porto Alegre) is titled ‘Otro mondo es posible’ [‘Another world is possible’], <https://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Otro_mundo_es_posible>, accessed 27 March 2020.

3. Association des archivistes français, ‘Mise en archives des réactions post-attentats: enjeux et perspectives’ [Archiving post-attacks reactions: Stakes and perspectives’], La Gazette des archives, vol. 250, 2018.

4. Figure 1. Atocha Station (Madrid) the day after the attack, <https://magazineactivo.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/el-dia-despues-del-11-m-7.jpg>, accessed 27 March 2020.

5. Cristina Sánchez-Carretero (ed.), El archivo del duelo: análisis de la respuesta ciudadana ante los atentados del 11 de marzo en Madrid, [The mourning archive: analysis of the citizen response to the March 11 attacks in Madrid], Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, 2011.

6. Library of Congress, ‘Collection 11 September 2001, Documentary Project’, <https://www.loc.gov/collections/september-11th-2001-documentary-project/about-this-collection/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

7. <https://marathon.library.northeastern.edu/item/neu:m0427446z/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

8. Archivo 15 M, <https://archivosol15m.wordpress.com/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

9. Occupy Archive, <https://occupyarchive.org/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

10. Unha Gran Burla Negra, <http://unhagranburlanegra.gal/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

11. Roberta L Dougherty, ‘Documenting Revolution in the Middle East’, Centre for Research Libraries, Global Resources Network, <https://www.crl.edu/focus/article/7437>, accessed 27 March 2020.

12. Archivo General del Movimiento Estudiantil, <http://movimientoestudiantil.cl/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

13. <https://elpais.com/elpais/2011/05/17/album/1305620219_910215.html#foto_gal_37>.

14. Mathilde Frenois, ‘Nice: Les souvenirs en hommage aux victimes de l’attentat sont archivés’ [‘Mementoes in tribute to the victims of the attack are archived’], 20 minutes, 9 February 2017, <https://www.20minutes.fr/nice/2011815-20170209-nice-souvenirs-hommage-victimes-attentat-archives>, accessed 27 March 2020.

15. Archivo Histórico Ferroviario, <https://www.museodelferrocarril.org/archivoybiblioteca/archivo.asp>, accessed 27 March 2020.

16. Figure 2. 15 M archives commission, <https://archivosol15m.wordpress.com/contacto/archivolibre01/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

17. See for example 15M.cc - Production files. Field recordings, <https://archive.org/details/15m.cc-ArchivosDeProduccion-FieldRecordings/>, accessed 11 May 2020.

18. See for example: <https://es.slideshare.net/guest7991c4/el-archivo-del-duelo-los-espaoles-expresan-su-dolour-por-el-11m>, accessed 27 March 2020.

19. See for example: <https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/es/idESKBN18Y22H-OESTP>, accessed 27 March 2020.

20. London Metropolitan Archives, <https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/the-collections/Pages/77-Archive.aspx>, accessed 27 March 2020.

21. Figure 3. ‘Archive: in order not to forget this’, <https://archivosol15m.wordpress.com/pancartas/_mg_8371-archivo/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

22. 15 M Archives, <https://archivo15m.no-ip.org/index.php/;informationobject/browse>; Charlie Archive Collection, <https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/31/resources/6880>, accessed 24 April 2020.

23. Art. 52, Ley 16/1985, de 25 de junio, del Patrimonio Histórico Español. <https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1985-12534>, accessed 24 April 2020.

24. ICA A to M Archivo 15 M, <https://archivo15m.no-ip.org/index.php/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

25. Figure 4. Some posters have aesthetic value, <https://archivosol15m.wordpress.com/pancartas/inv1466_mg_0872-copia/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

26. 20 Minutos, ‘La USC catalogará en un ‘archivo vivo’ el material surgido de la ‘creatividad colectiva’ del movimiento Nunca Mais’ [‘The USC will catalogue in a ‘living archive’ the material that emerged from the collective creativity of the Never Again movement’], 29 January 2019, <https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/3548869/0/usc-catalogara-archivo-vivo-material-surgido-creatividad-colectiva-movimiento-nunca-mais/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_campaign=desktop>, accessed 27 March 2020.

27. See for example: <https://www.20minutes.fr/nice/2011815-20170209-nice-souvenirs-hommage-victimes-attentat-archives>, accessed 27 March 2020.

28. Michelle Dean, ‘The Struggle For The Occupy Wall Street Archives’, The Awl, 21 December 2011, <https://www.theawl.com/2011/12/the-struggle-for-the-occupy-wall-street-archives/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

29. Figure 5. ‘Looks like we’re alive’, <https://archivosol15m.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/acampadasol-en-las-antipodas/inv1607_fmg_9490/>, accessed 27 March 2020.

30. Antonio Cea, Paloma Diaz-Maz, Pilar Martinez, Carmen Ortiz and C Sánchez Carretero, ‘En torno a la documentación de los conflictos: el caso del Archivo del Duelo, Justicia, terrorismo y archivos’ [‘Documenting conflicts: the case of the Mourning Archives, Justice, terrorism and archives’], Tabula, vol. 14, 2011, pp. 137–149.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Blanca Bazaco Palacios

Blanca Bazaco Palacios is currently Head of Reference and User Services at the Regional Archives of Madrid. She has worked as an archivist in different public and private organisations in Spain since 1996, such as the Archive Inspection Unit of Madrid and the Registry of the Intellectual Property or the Refugee Reception Centre. She is also a member of the ICA Section on Archives and Human Rights. She has provided training courses on record management in Spain and in the refugee camps of Tindouf (Algeria), translated archival texts for UNESCO, and participated in various international meetings such as the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, and in UNESCO and ICA Conferences.