Welcome to the Protest Archive
Written in German, published in German and English (translated by Iain Reynolds) in the printed issue of form 273, Sep/Oct 2017.
The purpose of an archive is to document past events and provide access to knowledge. After all, anyone wanting to understand themselves and their community – and to have a say in its future – needs to be familiar with the past. Archives that collect material from protest movements, though, are not just of benefit to the activist community. Besides preserving objects, political ideas or aesthetic trends, they also serve to address broader questions: How do communities acquire and pass on knowledge? How do they design collectively while still promoting individuality? And what alternative means of making things exist outside of established businesses and markets?