Foam Magazine #59: Histories

Archives are all around us: in the form of family albums, or the community, city and national archives. We tend to perceive them as places and spaces where memories and evidence of histories are kept, preserved, indexed and certified; as repositories of traces, and treasure coves of relics and narratives. However, they are also very complicated entities, as the construction of archives all too easily lends itself to the curation, staging, erasure and manipulation of histories in ‘the public eye’. The new issue of Foam Magazine focuses on the archive as subject and looks at contemporary ways of engaging with archival images, and their remediation as a form of activation and critical analysis. The relationship between photography and the archive is a symbiotic one, but also an inherently problematic one, which is why the questions addressed in this magazine relate to its construction, and place decolonial approaches at the centre of the conversation.

We are incredibly proud to host contributions from a wide plethora of precious guests: from portfolios showing the works of artists such as Tavares Strachan, Alanna Fields, David Alekhuogie, Pacifico Silano and Frida Orupabo to text contributions by Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, Anjali Arondekar, Brenda J. Caro Cocotle and Rona Sela – only to name a few. Our focus not only lies in the examination of established or physical archives, but in the creation of contemporary forms of photographic archiving. Ranging from innovative collaborations and new approaches in education as described by Sunil Shah, to the collection of memes as explored by Clusterduck Collective with their transmedia project Meme Manifesto. Our most-loved feature, the On My Mind, hosts precious reflections from Shirin Neshat and Jacqueline Bates, while the Bookshelf presents an inspiring and necessary selection coming from Jessica de Abreu and Amsterdam-based The Black Archives. The What’s New introduces the upcoming publication by Mohamad Abdouni, Treat Me Like Your Mother: Trans* Histories from Beirut Forgotten Past and our regular, main Interview presents an inspiring conversation between Awoiska van der Molen and Eugenie Shinkle. Last but not least, you fill find something special right at the end of this issue of Foam Magazine: the back cover of Histories presents a small selection of posters from the archive of Now You See Me Moria, a joint effort between an Afghan refugee living in the largest refugee camp of Europe (located in Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos), and a photo editor based in the Netherlands, to collect photos and share stories documenting life in the camp. We invite you to ponder on the reimagined archive – one where past collective memories merge, shape the present and redirect the future. 

HERE IS A SNEEK PEAK:

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CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS & WRITERS

Kelani Abass, Mohamad Abdouni, Jessica de Abreu, David Alekhuogie, Marina Amaral, Gomantak Maratha Samaj Archives, Anjali Arondekar, Mariama Attah, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Henri Badaröh, Fernando Banzi, Anne Barlinckhoff, Jacqueline Bates, Dan Boardman, Antawan I. Byrd, David Campany, Clusterduck Collective, Brenda J. Caro Cocotle, Alanna Fields, Avram Finkelstein, Chandra Frank, Lucy Ives, Délio Jasse, Kim Knoppers, Mika Kobayashi, Mirjam Kooiman, Carollina Lauriano, Amak Mahmoodian, Ana Raquel Manhique, Aspen Mays, Elisa Medde, Lívia Melzi, Awoiska van der Molen, Anne Wetsi Mpoma, Varun Nayar, Shirin Neshat, Now You See Me Moria, Eduardo Jorge de Oliveira, Andrés Orjuela, Frida Orupabo, Rhita Oudghiri, Giovanna Petrocchi, Som Prabh, Stephanie Ribeiro, Chalil Rissas, Sofia Yala Rodrigues, Roberto Ruiz, Rona Sela, Eugenie Shinkle, Pacifico Silano, Joy Stacey, Tavares Strachan, Sunil Shah, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, Kai Yokoyama 

COVER

Image from the series EIGHTEEN NINETY, 2020, installation detail from the exhibition In Plain Sight © Tavares Strachan, courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery

 

Foam Magazine has been awarded several prizes for both its high-grade graphic design and the quality of its content. Most recently, Foam Magazine was awarded Photography Magazine of the Year at the Lucie Awards 2017 and 2019.

Foam Magazine is an international photography magazine published three times a year by Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. 

Foam Magazine is sponsored by Igepa Netherlands BV, supplier of excellent paper.

EAN 8710966455231-00059

ISSN 1570-4874
288 pages
Printed on selected specialised paper
300x230x23 mm
1118 g