Re-visioning the Archives: On the Creation and Curation of Relational and Decolonial Visual Art Archives in Asia

This chapter explores the principles and operative procedures that might characterize an independent archive documenting the emergence of modern and contemporary art in Southeast Asia. The author takes THAI ART ARCHIVES™, a non-profit archive of modern and contemporary art in Thailand founded in 2010, as a case study to examine the rewards and challenges of creating such an archive. The author considers the pragmatic and idealistic goals of such an archive and the stakeholders it serves, highlighting the cultural and political complexities that arise in the creation and curation of a relational and decolonial visual art archive in Asia.