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Konstnärsarkivets värde : en studie kring fem institutioners syn på konstnärsarkiv med utgångspunkt i Carl Johan De Geers ateljématerial

Lindqvist, Lina Josefina LU (2025) ABMM34 20251
Division of ALM, Digital Cultures and Publishing Studies
Abstract
This study shed light on, and deepen the understanding of, how artists’ personal archives are acquired and evaluated within the collecting practices of five Swedish institutions. Using the studio materials of Swedish artist Carl Johan De Geer (b. 1938) as a point of departure, interviews were conducted to identify the factors influencing potential acquisition, as well as how different types of materials are valued in relation to research value, informational value, and artistic value. Given that artists’ archives are often highly media-diverse, the study examines how practical limitations and differing professional habitus shape decisions concerning the preservation of archival integrity. An artist like De Geer, whose work intertwines self... (More)
This study shed light on, and deepen the understanding of, how artists’ personal archives are acquired and evaluated within the collecting practices of five Swedish institutions. Using the studio materials of Swedish artist Carl Johan De Geer (b. 1938) as a point of departure, interviews were conducted to identify the factors influencing potential acquisition, as well as how different types of materials are valued in relation to research value, informational value, and artistic value. Given that artists’ archives are often highly media-diverse, the study examines how practical limitations and differing professional habitus shape decisions concerning the preservation of archival integrity. An artist like De Geer, whose work intertwines self and art, complicates the delineation between artistic and archival material, and thus where a personal archive begins and ends. This study explores how different institutions negotiate and define these boundaries. The empirical material has been analysed thematically and interpreted through theoretical frameworks of cultural capital, field, and habitus, the archivist’s power over historiography, as well as a rhizomatic perspective. The findings suggest that acquisition decisions emerge as a complex web of resource-based, practice-based and individual factors—where each artist’s archive is assessed within an entangled fabric of these interwoven considerations. The fact that no Swedish institution is solely responsible for the preservation of contemporary artists’ archives raises questions about responsibility and boundary-drawing between fields, increasing the risk that important cultural material may fall through the cracks. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lindqvist, Lina Josefina LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
The Value of the Artist’s Archive : A Study of Five Institutions’ Perspectives on Artists’ Archives, Based on the Studio Materials of Carl Johan De Geer
course
ABMM34 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Archival science, Private archives, Artist’s archives, Cultural heritage, Collections, LAM institutions, the archival turn
language
Swedish
id
9211176
date added to LUP
2025-09-16 08:41:26
date last changed
2025-09-23 09:54:17
@misc{9211176,
  abstract     = {{This study shed light on, and deepen the understanding of, how artists’ personal archives are acquired and evaluated within the collecting practices of five Swedish institutions. Using the studio materials of Swedish artist Carl Johan De Geer (b. 1938) as a point of departure, interviews were conducted to identify the factors influencing potential acquisition, as well as how different types of materials are valued in relation to research value, informational value, and artistic value. Given that artists’ archives are often highly media-diverse, the study examines how practical limitations and differing professional habitus shape decisions concerning the preservation of archival integrity. An artist like De Geer, whose work intertwines self and art, complicates the delineation between artistic and archival material, and thus where a personal archive begins and ends. This study explores how different institutions negotiate and define these boundaries. The empirical material has been analysed thematically and interpreted through theoretical frameworks of cultural capital, field, and habitus, the archivist’s power over historiography, as well as a rhizomatic perspective. The findings suggest that acquisition decisions emerge as a complex web of resource-based, practice-based and individual factors—where each artist’s archive is assessed within an entangled fabric of these interwoven considerations. The fact that no Swedish institution is solely responsible for the preservation of contemporary artists’ archives raises questions about responsibility and boundary-drawing between fields, increasing the risk that important cultural material may fall through the cracks.}},
  author       = {{Lindqvist, Lina Josefina}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Konstnärsarkivets värde : en studie kring fem institutioners syn på konstnärsarkiv med utgångspunkt i Carl Johan De Geers ateljématerial}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}