Research in development: artists’ archives since the 1970s

The idea that art should be independent – l’art pour l’art – remains deeply rooted in the way we think about artistic practice. Even the popular American music producer Rick Rubin stresses in his recent artist’s manifesto The Creative Act: A Way of Being (2023) – which is also a self-help guide – that the artist should ideally concentrate entirely on the creative process. The work of art speaks for itself, and the artist does not need to justify it or offer any context. But if we accept that the artist has the privilege to refrain from explanations, what does that imply for the artist’s archive? After all, this amalgam of the most varied materials does not arise out of artistic necessity. Instead, it accumulates in the margins of the creative process and the daily activities of the studio. Documents such as sketches, letters, invoices, photos and notes provide valuable insights into the circumstances in which the oeuvre has emerged. In interaction with the work of art, archival materials offer points of reference to embed the artistic practice of an individual in a broader social, cultural and historical reality. Furthermore, the archive often functions as the key that helps researchers and curators arrive at a new reading or presentation of the work or life of an artist.

In this example project, the focus is mainly on the archives of artists who came to the forefront of the Belgian arts scene in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of them grew into household names with nationally or internationally influential oeuvres; others remained under the radar or have since faded somewhat into obscurity. There is often little information, or none at all, about the state, scope or accessibility of their archives.

Based on the structural services that the CKV offers to preserve artists’ archives and artistic legacies, this one-year project provides support and advice for artists of this generation or their heirs on how to identify and describe their archives and make them accessible in the long term. The intended result of this research is an initial, representative exploration of artists’ archives from this generation, based on archive descriptions, partial inventories and box lists. Depending on the response and the available time, the intention is to study the archives of about ten artists, potentially including both household names and lesser-known figures. Interviews are another essential aspect of this process. These conversations document various facets of the artist’s life, artistic practice and their perspective on their own archive. Additionally, this direct contact with artists and heirs may lead to the research exposing other needs or attention points that surround artistic legacies today. These may have to do with conservation or copyright, for example, or the ambition to have key works included in public collections.

The insights provided by this example project will form the basis for broader, proactive work by the CKV from 2026 onwards, whilst simultaneously confirming the status of these archives as meaningful sources of heritage within the field of the visual arts.