'Encounters in the Archive' is an ongoing research project created as a result of artist / researcher interaction with archived objects, specifically with old costumes housed in the V&A Theatre and Performance Archive. Including drawings, quotes, fragments, costumes, collages, a research journal article, an exhibition, a book and a film, this project examines both the moment of encounter and the resulting work.
The absence of the body of the performer in the archived costume can itself be the starting point for enlightening and creative journeys, towards new performances, through the discoveries and connections made in these encounters.
Photographs by Donatella Barbieri. Object copyright for Buffoon’s wife jacket and Buffon’s mask, for Chout (1921), by Mikhail Larionov © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2012