The Artist’s Archive  

Floor 8

A unique facet of the exhibition Edges of Ailey is its inclusion of archival material – letters, handwritten notes, performance posters, photographs, and video, which are displayed alongside artworks by a diverse group of artists. This conversation, organized in partnership with the Louis Armstrong House Museum, considers the importance of an artist’s archive, and how it can be used as a tool for legacy building as well as a touchstone for expansive creativity. What does it mean for artists to create archives? How can we inspire and support artists to keep their archives? In answering these questions, the discussion attends to how archival practices are a critical component of contemporary art. 

The panel is bookended by listening sessions of recorded music and interviews inspired by the Ailey and Armstrong legacies, drawn from the Louis Armstrong House Museum’s sixty-thousand-piece collection. 

Speakers  
Adrienne Edwards, Engell Speyer Family Senior Curator and Associate Director of Curatorial Programs, Whitney Museum of American Art 
Joy Bivins, Director, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 
Regina Bain, Executive Director, Louis Armstrong House Museum