Programming, Curating and Reconstruction as Elements of a Performative Practice of Film Historiography

• Applicant: Dr. Senta Siewert
• Subject Area: Theatre and Media Studies
• Term: from 2012 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 211000735

As film archives are gradually gaining in significance under the banner of the reflexive historicization of media culture, a process in which the circulation of film images in digital networks also plays a decisive role, the project pays particular attention to the relationship between memory and remembrance functions and film aesthetics at the place where film archives, cinemas and exhibition practice come together. The starting point is formed by the concept of the curated program as constituting a medium of representation and film historiography, a concept thus far largely neglected in previous research. The project raises the question of the extent to which the practice of film programming can be understood as a mode of historiography. It answers these questions based on an examination of concrete curatorial concepts from selected film and video art institutions, whose archives and collections and their respective preservation and reconstruction practices are analysed from a comparative perspective. Expanding the horizons of previous film theoretical reflections, the project works on the assumption that screening practice plays just an important role in aesthetically determining the subject of film as is the case for a particular performance of a musical piece for example. In light of this assumption, the project draws on significant case studies to examine three key areas with regard carrying out archive work and portraying archive holdings: experimental film/expanded cinema, film and video installations and curated film programs. The period of investigation extends from the 1970s to the present.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants