Art and archives in the gallery: the archivist's perspective.

Artists have long been interested in the archival process. Their work examining and critiquing archives and archival concepts has attracted considerable scholarly attention; however, little attention has been paid to the perspectives of archivists, focusing instead on those of artists themselves, as well as critical theorists. This article focuses on how archivists consider and harness archives in their practice, examining their use of archives in exhibitions within museum and gallery settings (and, briefly, within libraries). Drawing on interviews with archivists and designers, this paper explores the display of archives through four key themes: contextualising (and, in turn, shaping) the exhibition of artworks; providing insights into the creative processes of artists and writers; enabling institutions to reflect on their collecting and curating practices; and using archives as objects for display in themselves. The discussion demonstrates a range of different perspectives that reveals the transformative possibilities of archives and their exhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]