Archiving and counter-archiving are central to the practice of Werker Collective. Their work revolves around an ever-expanding collection of books, photographs, magazines and other print matter on subjects such as labour, solidarity and the body. Comprising several thousand documents, the archive is continuously activated by people working in different constellations: to collectively explore marginalised histories and to generate new political imaginaries. These explorations take the form of workshops and publications, performances and installations. In Prishtina, a city whose archives are particularly vulnerable and often absent, destroyed or invisible, Werker will turn its attention to the historiography of love. Fifteen groups of people from various walks of life have each contributed a crate of archival materials that have to do with love, whether romantic, familial, social or otherwise. Schools, families and community groups are invited to arrange these materials on editing shelves in shifting narrative constellations. The crates, shelves and methodologies will remain at the Centre for Narrative Practice as ongoing tools of participatory archiving and collective storytelling.
Opening reception: July 22.
On view: 30 October, 2022.
Manifesta 14
Different venues in Prishtina
Manifesta14.org