SIGHTSEEING
Activating Archives Against Revisionism , Denialism and Propaganda
Csaba Szilágyi Chief Archivist and Head of Human Rights Program at the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives ( OSA )
Archives have prominent roles in memory work . They do not preserve or carry memories per se but provide documentary and material sources for collective memory creation and , increasingly , space for memorialization . A 2020 UN report on memory practices in the aftermath of grave human rights abuses explicitly relates the effectiveness of memorialization — the “ fifth pillar of transitional justice ”— to the existence of and access to relevant archives . Knowledge creation in archives is as dependent on the availability and content of key documents as on the agency and curatorial decisions of the archivist . Beyond determining what is preserved for posterity and how archives are accessed and used , archivists assign memory values to records in their custody ; a process that is by nature selective , as it highlights certain sources for memory formation , while leaves others in the shadow of oblivion . From this position of power , archivists “ are responsible in the present for how we narrate the past ” in the archives , which are the space of contestation and political struggle for multivocal narratives and self-representation . EUROM ’ s cooperating partner in Budapest , the Blinken OSA Archivum ( the Archivum ) operates on this theoretical foundation .
An international archives , research and education center and urban cultural venue established in 1995 , the Archivum preserves and makes available records relating to the history of communism and the Cold War — and human rights movements and violations worldwide — , post-authoritarian and post-conflict societies , and marginalized communities including ethnic , religious and sexual minorities and people with disabilities . It also serves as a safe haven for archives and even archivists at risk . The Archivum promotes free , open , and equal access to recorded information in a welcoming archival infrastructure and research environment .
The Archivum positions itself at the intersection of a socially conscious , mainstream archival institution and broadly conceived community archives , which involves
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Observing Memories Issue 8