Archives Without Archivists: Notes on I’m Calling You—Rebirth (Reverse) of Humans and the Elephant

The Archive for Human Activities (AHA!) is an archival project that promotes the value of everyday records of ordinary people in the city. The author, AHA!’s curator Atsushi Matsumoto, believes that the social value of personal archives can be re-conceptualized from an archaeological perspective to provide a critical look at the way in which they are recorded and represented in the media today. In this chapter, Matsumoto explores the process of producing the art book entitled “I’m Calling You” and the question of to whom archives belong.