During the long twentieth century, displacement affected the musical, theatrical and literary output of artists and activists in myriad ways. Many works were thought to have been lost or have, until recently, languished in obscurity. Performing the Jewish Archive responds to the challenge of discovering/recovering and engaging anew with these creative artefacts, as well as stimulating the creation of new works to re-animate and extend existing archival collections. By treating archival objects as components of a non-hierarchical, non-linear system, the intention is to destabilise the relationship between past, present and future, origin and diaspora.

The Future of the Archive conference aims to act as a beacon for further research. It builds on three years of activity, based on the premise that performing Jewish archives specifically helps shed light on a host of wider cultural, scientific and political concerns.
For an example of the project’s work, see the EHRI Document Blog on a Yiddish play manuscript found in Finland, by researcher Simo Muir. 

For more information on the programme and to register, please visit the conference’s website.