Archival work, research and projects
TK labels developed by Kim Christen (WSU) and Jane Anderson (NYU).
Indigenous Collections: Examining Management and Access | 2019-2017
Indigenous cultures in the Americas and around the world have suffered great losses through centuries of exploitation and colonization. In the Americas, European imperialism and colonialism has defined the ways Indigenous materials have been collected, classified, and represented for centuries. Archives are not only repositories; they are sites of knowledge production. Western thought has shaped archival theory and methodology and has been imposed on non-Western cultural heritage in museums and archives collections, invalidating Indigenous knowledge systems and worldviews, and subjugating communities. In past decades, efforts have been made to decolonize archives and find ethical ways of dealing with culturally sensitive materials.
During my research I have examined guidelines and systems that support Indigenous rights and cultural sovereignty, and explored innovative archival practices and initiatives—in particular online platforms that allow curation by Indigenous communities and access according to communities’ protocols. I have also surveyed collection management practices at New York cultural heritage institutions with Indigenous holdings.
Guérin, S. (2019). Indigenous Cultural Heritage in Museums, Libraries, and Archives: A Survey of Collections Management Practices in New York Area Cultural Institutions. (Master’s thesis). Queens College-CUNY, New York.
Abstract and Conclusion of research paper
Archival Processing: Education and Public Engagement Collection, New Museum | 2019
Processed the Education and Public Engagement Collection of the New Museum for Contemporary Art, in New York. The collection spans 35 years of the Museum’s history, starting with the creation of the Education Department in 1980, and consists of 61 linear feet of records.
Documentation of particular historical significance includes records of the educational programs and the evolution of the educational mission of the museum over the years (e.g. correspondence between artist instructor Dread Scott and curatorial director); exhibition and public programs records, including transcripts and audio recordings of events; materials that document or interpret the New York Downtown art scene the museum was part of (e.g. a Feminist symposium featuring Ana Mendieta and Linda Goode Bryant in February 1982, a symposium questioning how art was addressing and reflecting the concerns of the homosexual community in 1982, a conversation between Leon Golub and Martha Rosler in 1984, the panel discussion Women and AIDS in march 1989, a discussion panels on censorship and government support of the arts in September 1989, local artists opening their studios to high school students—including Nancy Spero in the Spring 1991).
Ernest Benecke. “Autopsy of the First Crocodile Onboard, Upper Egypt,” 1852, on view in the Johnson Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, January-May 2017. Gilman Collection, Purchase, William Talbott Hillman Foundation Gift, 2005.
Nineteenth Century Photographic Prints: Best Practices for Display | 2017
The research examines recommendations for the safe display of photographic materials in general and 19th-century prints in particular. It starts with the history and processes of salted paper and albumen prints. After introducing early photographers, their processes, and their contributions to the history of photography, the research discusses two prints on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (January-May 2017)—a salted paper print by Ernest Benecke: “Autopsy of the First Crocodile Onboard, Upper Egypt,” 1852, and an albumen print by Gustave Le Gray: “The French and English Fleets, Cherbourg,”1858—to illustrate the preparation of photographic objects for exhibition. During the course of this research, I interviewed Katherine Sanderson, Associate Conservator of Photographs, to learn more about best practices at the Metropolitan Museum of Art regarding preparation of work and display conditions.