Archiving Oneself
This article was originally published in the Visual Artists’ News Sheet | May – June 2025
Eve Parnell outlines some advice for artists on how to organise their personal archives.
Archiving oneself as an artist typically refers to the process of documenting, preserving and organising your work, experiences, and personal history in a way that can be accessed and appreciated in the future.
An artist’s archive usually consists of documentation and ‘secondary material’ – the material traditionally created alongside an artwork. This secondary material can include exhibition press releases, price lists, newspaper clippings, diaries, photographs, and more. It is this kind of secondary material that The National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL) is interested in collecting.
Documentation: If you don’t already do so, it is advisable to start documenting your work, for example, by simply photographing your artworks. Make a collection of high-quality images of completed works, sketches, or experiments. Record relevant details, such as date, medium, and dimensions.
Exhibition History: Keep detailed exhibition records that track where and when your work has been shown, including galleries, museums, online platforms, or pop-up events.
Catalogue: Save documentation and catalogue your works, whether ‘traditional’ artforms or performance works. Add any special notes or meaning behind specific pieces. Another option is to record experiences, perhaps in the form of a journal.
Ephemera: Make personal collections that accompany your practice, to include ephemera such as letters, press clippings, or any artefact that has meaning in relation to your work.
The benefits of maintaining your own archive include:
- Legacy: By archiving your work, you are building a legacy as an artist. When researchers and art historians look back at an artist’s body of work, they can observe the evolution, the uniqueness, and the significance of their contributions. It’s a way to ensure your work is remembered and valued over time.
- Ownership and Control: Archiving your work ensures that you’re the one keeping track of it. In the future, this may help with copyright issues, proving authenticity, or even answering questions about your art.
As an artist, you should identify the most suitable repository for your materials and enter into dialogue with them. It’s a good idea to reach out before you put too much work into organising your materials. NIVAL is dedicated to the documentation of twentieth century and contemporary Irish visual art, craft and design. We collect, store and make accessible for research an unparalleled collection of documentation about Irish art, encompassing artforms from painting and sculpture to design, craft, fashion, performance and much more.
NIVAL acquires documentation generated by or about artists, designers and others engaged with art and design in Ireland, including collectors, writers, critics, commercial dealers and galleries, societies, artists’ groups and studios, and institutions that contribute to the visual culture of Ireland. A key aspect of NIVAL’s acquisition policy is that we do not judge materials based on artists’ ‘quality’, proficiency, or reputation; every artist and item is equally valued at NIVAL. The generous donation of art and design related documentation, from individuals and arts organisations alike, makes an invaluable contribution to the scope of the NIVAL collection.
If you are a practicing artist, relative of an artist, or are associated with a gallery, studio, arts organisation or other institution, and you would like to contribute material to NIVAL, to ensure the preservation and long-term public access of information about your work, please get in touch by emailing: nivalinfo@ncad.ie.
Eve Parnell is a practicing artist and Artists Database Editor / Library Assistant at NIVAL.