After thirty years of activity, the Biennale has felt the need to collect and catalogue its memory, not only to testify his long history, but also to stimulate a reflection on the future of the organisation. To this end, the idea of a digital archive was born, a project that foreseen the collection and digitization of all the different materials produced in these thirty years: catalogues, posters, cards, videos, photos, press releases, and so on. More than 350 documents, 36 videos, 30 gadgets and 900 pictures were collected so far, but their number is expected to increase.
The archive consists of 17 sections, one for each Biennale, divided into 10 categories that classify the documents, according to their type (Catalogues, Local Selections, Pre-Post Biennial, Workshops, Parallel Events / Projects, Programs / Information Packs, Calls for Participation, Gadgets, Press, Additional Documents). Each document is accompanied by a brief description that contains the basic information such as the curator, physical description, date and place, the publishing house, the disciplines involved, etc. The database is addressed to the curious user, which can browse the life of the Biennale guided by a clear and easy-to-read chronological structure, but also to the highly interested user. In this second case the search for material can be carried out through two systems: – By keywords (for example by entering the title of a publication or the name of an artist) – Through an advanced search by date, location or artistic discipline. Once found the document of interest, the user can view or download it.
The archive allows the user to read the history of the Biennale in a linear and chronological way, or find specific events, the names of the artists that have participated in a specific edition, to capture the reaction of the media and the public at the Biennale and much more. The largest group of documents is represented by the local selections that allow you to know which are the artists chosen by the members over the years or the disciplines chosen by the selection bodies of the network.
The realisation of BJCEM archive has been possible with the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
The collection and digitalization of materials have been supervised by Elena Di Majo.
The archive is accesible here: http://www.bjcem.org/biennale/digital-archive/