Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong publishes the second issue of its research journal Field Notes with a query that is close to the heart of Asia Art Archive: what does it mean to be archiving?

In this issue, we propose the archive as a method to illustrate the way in which initiatives like ours are taking the archive to counter, complicate, and reimagine systems in which narratives of modern and contemporary art are being produced, circulated, and understood.

In the first issue, we addressed the notion of ‘the contemporary in art', with specificity to the contexts of Asia. The forthcoming issue will examine the manifestations of Asia, its methodologies, maps, networks, and geographies. In this issue, we propose the archive as a method to illustrate the way in which initiatives like ours are taking the archive to counter, complicate, and reimagine systems in which narratives of modern and contemporary art are being produced, circulated, and understood.

Field Notes 02 can be downloaded as a free pdf. publication.

It includes an article on the Van Abbemuseum Archives, two essays On the Practice of the Oral History Archives of Japanese Art: Toward oral histories of art in Asia, an introduction and visual essay on the Hans Van Dijk Archive and other research articles on contemporary approaches to archiving.

Image: Hans Van Dijk's Apartment In Beijing, 1990s. Photo by Mai Zhixiong. Courtesy of Hu Fang.