Library of Omissions and Inclusions
Summary
The Library of Omissions and Inclusions is a growing long-term and community-built platform. Catalogued online and accessible in form of temporary reading rooms (traveling to various contexts and communities) this collection of materials builds a body of knowledge, that is difficult to find in shops, established libraries or databases, are forgotten or marginalized, or are too radical and experimental for mainstream publishing.
Supported by
Valand Academy Artistic Research
Partnership: AND Publishing London (www.andpublishing.org)
Description of project
The Library of Inclusions and Omissions is a growing resource of books, print-outs and pamphlets displayed on custom-made shelves, first installed during the exhibition
Meaning Making Meaning, curated by Gabo Camnitzer at A-venue, Göteborg, 2016, in form of a publicly accessible reading room housed in former shop on Göteborg’s main high street.
This reading room is based on an open call for contributions. It is a shared resource curated by the very community that is using it in order to create an unconventional body of knowledge. There is a clear political, feminist,
intersectional stance: This collection gathers materials, such as books, novels, poems, comics, scholarly essays or self-published texts, that are difficult to find in shops, do not form part of a Western, white, patriarchal academia, or are too radical and experimental for mainstream publishing.
The Library of Inclusions and Omissions builds on radical librarianship, a term coined in the 70s by US librarians campaigning against censorship and discrimination and for access to materials, relevant for marginalised or under-privileged communities.
In comparison to online archives (aaaarg.fail, memoryoftheworld, monoscope), which have similar approaches of sharing texts and materials, this growing collection is grounded in a local community. Contributions are accompanied by personal statements, which articulate the desire why this material should be shared with others. These notes, printed on index cards and displayed next to the books, function as a kind of patronage for the book: They reflect on how the selected material has changed the contributor’s perspective, the way of thinking about her/himself in the world, or opened up a new horizon.
This is a community-built platform, exploring the social spaces of publishing, libraries, and event-based practices as opportunities to meet up, reflect and plot — and offer affective support to one another. It is a collective endeavor that drives for critique and structural change. It asks how value is attributed, why and for what reasons?
Type of work
Curated reading rooms, published online index catalog
Published in
Meaning Making Meaning, A-Venue Gothenburg
Research Show, A-Venue Gothenburg
Let’s Mobilize: What is Feminist Pedagogy?, Valand Academy Gothenburg
AND Publishing, index catalog of collection (http://andpublishing.org/library-of-omissions-and-inclusions-index/)
AND Publishing, archive of installations (http://andpublishing.org/library-of-omissions-and-inclusions/
Link to web site
http://andpublishing.org/library-of-omissions-and-inclusions/
http://andpublishing.org/library-of-omissions-and-inclusions-index/
http://www.artandeducation.net/announcement/valand-academy-presents-meaning-making-meaning-at-a-venue/
http://a-venue.se/The-Research-Show-6-apr-23-apr-2016
http://evaweinmayr.com/work/library-underground-a-reading-list-for-a-coming-community/
Other description
Library of Omissions and Inclusions — open call (English, Swedish, Arabic)
http://andpublishing.org/library-of-omissions-and-inclusions/
Library of Omissions and Inclusions — index catalog
http://andpublishing.org/library-of-omissions-and-inclusions-index/
Art and Education newsletter
http://www.artandeducation.net/announcement/valand-academy-presents-meaning-making-meaning-at-a-venue/
Related event: Artist talk in the exhibition: Research Show, A-Venue Gothenburg (21 April 2016)
http://a-venue.se/The-Research-Show-6-apr-23-apr-2016
Related published article: Library Underground — a reading list for a coming community, in “Publishing as artistic practice” (Sternberg 2016)
http://evaweinmayr.com/work/library-underground-a-reading-list-for-a-coming-community/
Attached: poster Open Call
View/ Open
Date
2016-03-16Creator
Weinmayr, Eva
Keywords
Contemporary Art
Feminism
Queer
Critical Pedagogy
Eurocentrism
Politics of Publishing and Distribution
Radical Librarianship
Access
Piracy
Activism
Political Imaginary
Publication type
artistic work