On Alinari: Archive in Transition
Edited by Costanza Caraffa
Photography by Armin Linke
Contributors: Estelle Blaschke, Elizabeth Edwards, Joan M. Schwartz, Tiziana Serena, Kelley Wilder
Five million photographic objects. A time of transition. A photographic heritage of international interest with a history that began in 1852. A move from the headquarters at Largo Alinari 1 in the center of Florence to a specilized storage facility in the Calenzano industrial park on the city's outskirts. A waiting period between the acquisition by the Region Toscana and the transfer to the future headquarters of the new Fondazione Alinari per la Fotografia. A milestone shift from private company to public institution. In the second half of 2020, a group of scholars reflected on the potentials of this transitional state, while photographer and filmmaker Armin Linke documented the stored crates and boxes, and listened to some of the actors involved in the Alinari firm and the recent institutional transformation. A dialogue between theory and practice that examines and questions the process of institutionalizing photographic archives.
On Alinari: Archive in Transition is a result of the dialogue that began during the study day held on 13 October 2020. It includes contributions from international scholars, as well as photographs and interviews by the artist Armin Linke.
You can find further details about the study day here: https://www.khi.fi.it/en/aktuelles/veranstaltungen/2020/10/on-alinari.php
Recordings of the event are available here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7734794