ARCHIVE CONVERSATION AND DISPLAY
COMMUNE: ELISE BY OLSEN & GEIR HARALDSETH

Please join us on Wednesday 29 May from 6pm for the seventh iteration of UKS’ event series COMMUNE – moulding the new UKS spaces in Keysers gate 1 into an artistic, theoretical and social meeting place with the help of a variety of local and international agents from the arts and cultural spheres.

On this evening, UKS has invited Oslo’s International Library of Fashion Research (ILFR) to present a one-night-only display of a selection of material from their collection, alongside a selection from Geir Haraldseth’s own library and archive, and UKS’ vast institutional archive. There will be an eclectic mix of artistic and archival practices, from artists books and fashion magazines to art and fashion ephemera; as well as exhibition remnants left from a portrait competition at UKS in 1966.

At 7pm there will be a conversation about archives with Elise By Olsen, founder of ILFR, Geir Haraldseth, curator and self-proclaimed hoarder, and Kaja Breckan, UKS’ longtime Office (and accidental Archive) Manager, moderated by Live Drønen, UKS’ recent interim Artistic Director. The discussion will touch on aspects of the respective archives; how an archive starts – and, eventually, ends – how its value shifts, its objects deteriorate, and the importance of keeping it alive.

International Library of Fashion Research archives, preserves and mediates fashion’s printed matter. The library’s holdings consists of more than 15,000 objects including books, magazines and other kinds of ephemera dating from 1975 until the present. Through curatorial, editorial and educational projects, the collection is continuously activated.

From the collection of is curator Geir Haraldseth’s library and archive. The collection is currently deposited at Rogaland Art Centre in Stavanger. Thousands of books and magazines covering contemporary art, lifestyle and fashion from the 1960s until today is available for the public during the art centre’s opening hours.

All are warmly welcome. UKS’ Minibar will serve refreshments from 6 to 9pm, and our current exhibition can be observed in its resting mode.

* Image above: ILFR. Photo: Willy Busfield.