Meeting #16: Material Culture and Archives

When: Monday, October 26, 4-5pm

Where: Beinecke Room 39

Text under discussion:

Ala Rekrut, "Material Literacy: Reading Records as Material Culture," Archivaria 60 (Fall 2005): 11-37.

Rekrut_MaterialLiteracy.pdf

Abstract:

This paper links certain ideas from archival literature with modern conservation and museological theory and practice, and illustrates some of these ideas with an example from the holdings of the Archives of Manitoba. Material literacy is the ability to decode and interpret the significance of the material composition and construction, and of the physical state, of a tangible record. A creator’s material, technology, and design choices will be informed by the need to communicate within the contemporary socio-cultural context. Once created, records start changing through natural deterioration, through wear from use, and through deliberate alterations to the records by their creator(s), and by subsequent custodians and users. Evidence of creation and change are part of the history of a record, and the past and present choices of creators and custodians may have a significant impact on the future interpretation of the record. Archives also actively change this evidence through physical and intellectual mediations during their custodianship. The author briefly considers how the material aspects of records are approached in archival practices for assigning value, examination, description, and documentation of interventions. Records in their original forms can powerfully communicate meaning between generations and cultures, offering researchers a personal and direct sensory engagement with the past. Awareness of records as material culture is required before the value of physical evidence can be recognized and evaluated as a primary source of contextual evidence, thereby enriching the preservation of the meaning of the records.

Discussion leader:

Jennifer Meehan