Marco Scotini on the Archive as Artistic and Curatorial Paradigm

In a wide-ranging interview on Artribune, curator Marco Scotini discusses the contemporary obsession with archives in the art world, tracing its theoretical roots from Aby Warburg to Jacques Derrida. He distinguishes between conventional institutional archives—which he calls 'archives-readymade'—and the artistic use of archives as a critical tool to challenge historical narratives. Scotini's own project, Disobedience Archive, founded in 2004, exemplifies this approach: an evolving collection of videos and ephemera exploring social disobedience, from the 1977 Italian revolt to global protests, which will be part of the upcoming Istanbul Biennale. He argues that the current archival turn reflects a loss of the documentary object in the digital age, where big data and AI threaten the probative value of images. Scotini also highlights the need for a 'politics of memory' and an 'aesthetic paradigm' to replace the outdated scientific one. The interview covers his exhibitions L'Inarchiviabile. Italia anni '70 (at FM Centro Arte Contemporanea, Milan) and Il soggetto imprevisto, which delved into feminist archives. He cites artists such as Akram Zaatari, Walid Raad, and Sammy Baloji as key figures working with archives. The article also announces the new book series GeoArchivi by Meltemi, directed by Scotini, with its first volume on Asja Lācis.