The archive as a historical and creative source
Seeing and touching archival documents gives us access to the past, to events that we reimagine, to people that we remember. But in what way does the archive guarantee truth?
What are the positions of historians, applying scientific rigour? What are the positions of artists, who appropriate the archive and give free rein to their imagination? Is it possible to make a piece of archival material say anything? The answers differ depending on whether one is a historian or an artist. What solutions can be found to reconcile the historical and artistic approaches?
This talk will first address the working methods of the historian, for whom archive documents are "primary sources". Then, the use of archives in art will be discussed, using examples from literature (Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Jules Verne, J.R.R. Tolkien, ...), cinema (Twin Peaks, Dark, ...) and photography (Joan Fontcuberta, Sally Mann ...). Finally, Philippe Black will share his thoughts on his own artistic research.
Philippe Black is a historian, literary historian, journalist and photographer. In 2010, he defended a thesis on the history of literature in the Eastern Townships between the wars at UCLouvain, where he taught from 2010 to 2021 and where he is currently a researcher. A graduate of the Agnès Varda School of Photography of the City of Brussels, he exhibited his projects Borderlines and Transition at Espace Vanderborght in 2020.
{gallery}souvenirs sauvage{/gallery}