Building an Archive – Exploring photographic archiving practices through Kota 50’s collection

Project: 23.01 - 18.03.2023
Workshop: 11.03 e 18.03.2023
Residency: 08.03 - 18.03.2023

‘Building an Archive’ is a project based on a workshop on archiving practices and artistic creation, which drew on the extensive collection of analogue photography left by Angolan photojournalist Paulino Damião (1949-2020), known as ‘Kota 50’.

Using this photographic archive under construction, the course explored different photographic practices and established an interdisciplinary dialogue in which photographers, artists, archivists and researchers shared their experiences. Including talks and practical sessions, the course was aimed at professionals in the multidisciplinary areas of visual arts, photography and archiving, who were keen to enhance their knowledge of photography.

Paulo Moreira gave an in-depth presentation of the history and context of the ‘Kota 50’ archive; Inês Ponte addressed concepts relating to archiving, analogue and digital inventory management, and principles of photographic digitisation; Fernando Penim Redondo spoke about twentieth-century analogue cameras and reels, presenting his own photography work at the same time; Paulo Pimenta presented his work as a photojournalist and explained the implications of the genre for photographic practice, and Ivo Tavares described the role of digital technology in image post-production. The project also included an artistic residency by artist Lino Damião, who explored the potential of artistic creation using analogue photography archives. The participants followed a series of modules, which reflected on different dimensions of photographic culture, spanning analogue and digital formats.

Hosting and processing the Kota 50 archive is an ongoing project at INSTITUTO, as part of a line of work focusing on the relationship between Portugal and Angola that will continue to be explored, acknowledging the potential for archival research to cast light on the history of photography and on photography-based artistic and archiving practices.

Coordination: Paulo Moreira, Inês Ponte
Workshop: Ivo Tavares, Lino Damião
Conferences: Fernando Penim, Paulo Pimenta
Residency: Lino Damião

Support: Direção-Geral das Artes/Ministério da Cultura e Criatório, Ágora – Cultura e Desporto, E.M.