The Archive

In 2017 Magasin III handed over the entire exhibition space to itself, interrupting the stream of producing and exhibiting of artists and works in order to look at the institution it had become over the course of three decades. Magasin III’s history, like the one of everything else, is written in the now, in the constant little movements that resulted in works, in exhibitions, publications, encounters and experiences, in artists and visitors who came, stayed and returned. Entering into our pause of the public program, our Intermission, and in thousands of documents, papers, photos, artifacts, letters and notes, the museum laid itself out, for once not to the public, but for its own eyes, and onto its own walls.

Opening any archive is a reminder that there are as many markers of time and memory keepers as one wants there to be. What stands out, does so for a reason and always according to a perspective. Such is the nature of formulating in hindsight. The material tells only every half the story. Behind the dedication of time, space, and resources to a thorough survey of the self stands the view that the history of the institution is not just unfolding while watching on, but is an ongoing process of closely observing, questioning, and negotiating the course of the own narrative. An institution’s history is as much written in objects and events, as it is formulated in the stance adapted towards them at a given time. Being able to trace such narrative became a prerequisite for shaping it in the future. Documenting some of this process and the thoughts considered, became a tool to obtain clarity, to set the parameters, to being able to go forward with awareness of the institution’s history.