Conclusion of the Project “Archives of the Future” at Muzeum sztuki in Łódż

Muzeum sztuki in Łódż announces the successful conclusion of its project “Archives of the Future,” which was carried out in cooperation between Muzeum sztuki; Artpool Art Research Center Budapest; the Museum of Fine Arts – Central European Research Institute for Art History (Budapest); and the Polish Institute in Budapest. The project started in spring 2024 with two study visits to Łódź and Budapest. The aim of the first part of the project was to become familiar with the Artpool archive, which was founded by György Galántai and Julia Klaniczay in 1979, and the Poetry Bureau, established by Andrzej Partum in 1971 in Warsaw and transferred to Muzeum sztuki in 2019. Both archives are dedicated to mail art and artists networks of the 1970s and ‘80s. The study visits provided participants with an opportunity to compare both archives and to analyze the themes, geography, and chronologies of their materials, resulting in a joint exhibition at Platan Gallery in Budapest on November 5-7, 2024. The visits and exhibition are designed as impulses for further independent research in the archives, and as a response to György Galántai’s challenge to create an “active archive” by actively continuing to the collected material. Please see here for interviews with organizers and artists, including the founders of Artpool.