Reconstituting and rebuilding lost and missing institutional records at Tate

Abstract

This paper presents how the author, in their capacity as an embedded archives and records management researcher as part of the Tate research project Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum, navigated the loss of all of the institutional records related to the commissioning and programming of 15 internet artworks. Beginning their case study in an informational deficit meant the author and research colleagues had to refocus their intentions and expectations. On discovering a limited body of literature in the archival and records management sector, the author reflects on developing a methodology for reconstituting and rebuilding lost institutional records and testing how this could be embedded into Tate’s existing recordkeeping and archival practices. The paper also speaks to the inextricable links between the archive and memory, identity and power that the conversations around archival loss provoke.