You can find Kunsthalle Bern’s online archive here:
https://archiv.kunsthalle-bern.ch/

The digitization of analogue archives has become an integral part of the zeitgeist. Information previously only accessible through the physical perusal of books and archive records has in recent years started to migrate into a new kind of public domain, one that is in digital form. For any individual looking to amass new knowledge through hitherto unavailable sources, and also for institutions wishing to share what until now was available only on request – and required the use of gloves – this development presents completely new possibilities.
But the act of translating a physical archive into digital form is an arduous and costly one. Sometimes the cost-benefit ratio is clearly positive, but more often than not the obscurity of a collection makes this less clear. Posters, catalogues and photographs are easy to justify, but who cares about one hundred years’ worth of customs slips, invoices and personal correspondence of curators and artists? We know that many do; we know, for instance, that the letters preserved in the archive of Kunsthalle Bern are extraordinarily interesting because of the context in which they belong.
So, instead of taking the brute force path of complete digitization from A to Z and spending countless hours and valuable public resources before the material is actually digitally accessible, we decided to go about things differently, in collaboration with Astrom/Zimmer and 51st Floor Studio, in a way that reflects the relevance of the archive and its material, by visualizing the research context from the outset part of the digitization process.
Every year, at least one hundred researchers and scholars visit the on-site archive of Kunsthalle Bern. Starting in 2018, these visitors will be invited to interact with the material in a new way. Starting with the correspondence archive, all documents are re-catalogued and the folders containing them are equipped with RFID chips. A worktable specially created for Kunsthalle Bern allows the researchers to easily create digital representations of individual documents using a pre-mounted camera controlled by a computer interface. With the aid of integrated RFID antennas inside the table, the system knows what folder is currently on the table, and thus the representations are automatically linked with their respective physical folders. Since the Kunsthalle Bern archivists already have linked each folder with an exhibition, curator and, if possible, artists and other relevant entities, the basic content of a document is given. Using the computer interface, any additional information can be added by the researcher and stored in the system before he or she goes on to scan the next document. In this way the researcher is given a tool for the consistent documentation and easy creation of reference material, while at the same time populating the digital archive and gradually opening it up to the remote users. The online visibility of the archive can, in fact, trigger the interest of other researchers. The narrative threads and contents that are emerging are visible to them and can be linked to other research interests.

Furthermore, every document is digitized as part of a research project. As the digital archive grows, every document will be part of a story, putting it in a narrative context, with intrinsic links to other documents in the collection. Threads will weave through the archive, overlap and render visible connections that would otherwise remain invisible.
This tool may be understood as a recording apparatus that traces the use of the archive of the Kunsthalle Bern. This automation will not only allow the archive to become visible but also trace the process of its progressive emergence.

This project is both an experiment and a working tool. But it’s also a proof of concept for a new generation of digital archives. We develop this project in close collaboration with archivists, visiting researchers and the public, and with this we hope to contribute to a wider debate about the use, the challenges and the potential of digital archives.

With the generous support of Kultur Stadt Bern, Swisslos Kultur Kanton Bern, Burgergemeinde Bern, UBS Kulturstiftung, Jubiläumsstiftung der Mobiliar, Sophie und Karl Binding Stiftung, Memoriav, Ursula Wirz Stiftung, mmBE Akzent, and Gesellschaft zu Mittellöwen.