Meditations of the Black Archive: Methods and Praxis

Meditations of the Black Archive is a series of readings, conversations and gatherings focused on critical and creative contemplations of the black archive within a Swedish and European context. In a world organised around antiblackness and black unfreedom, the black archive is a mapping as well as imagination of spaces of breath, break, and breach. Yet the geographical site of Europe bears a specific tonality of violence and amnesia, shaping its influence on black life. Within this setting, the series will reflect on the conditions under which black archives exist and can operate, and ask: what can the black archives offer Black people in Europe?

The second talk in the series, “Methods and Praxis”, focuses on different Black archival practices within the European context. Jessica de Abreu, Ajamu X, and Etienne Joseph will present their respective archives and archival practices with attention to their methods and methodologies. They will also offer us reflections on the possibilities and challenges for the black archive in Black Europe. The three speakers will offer us a start to a conversation.

Image: Etienne Joseph (from Decolonising the Archive presentation)