The Feminist Laugh: Althea Greenan on Archives, Art, and Activism

Join Ceri as she speaks with Althea Greenan, curator of the Women's Art Library at Goldsmiths. From slide libraries to digital archives, Althea shares her experiences and activism through preserving and championing women's art for over 30 years. This episode is an exploration of how archives can be living, breathing spaces that inspire movements and create change. Through personal anecdotes and revolutionary projects, Althea reveals how small acts of documentation can spark massive cultural shifts and why archives are not just about the past, but about building feminist futures.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Women's Art Library began as a slide collection, where artists could submit documentation of their work for £8 per year, creating a democratic, non-hierarchical approach to archiving women's art.
• Throughout her career, Althea has maintained that archives should remain non-hierarchical and accessible, keeping the Women's Art Library's original mission of being open to all researchers, whether academic or independent.
• Through decades of work, Althea has witnessed how a single image or document can spark significant cultural change, proving that archives are not passive repositories but active agents of transformation.
• The transition from analogue to digital hasn't diminished the importance of physical archives; the tactile nature of slides, posters, and documents carries important historical and emotional context.
• Self-archiving was a revolutionary act for female artists in the 1980s and 90s, creating visibility and professional opportunities outside traditional art world structures.
• Contemporary artists and researchers continue to find new ways to activate and interpret the archive, proving its ongoing relevance to current artistic practice.
• The concept of "des oeuvre" suggests that artists' work extends beyond traditional studio practice to include teaching, curating, and institutional change.
• The power of feminist archives lies in their ability to create intimate encounters with ideas and spark movements, even through small scale interactions.

BEST MOMENTS

"Archives are living entities, sparking connection, care, and joy."

"A lot of the labour and the care and the personal evidence of inscription that artists very carefully made on these slide mounts is not evident in collections that are digitised."

"It's hard to be a thinker, a maker and be on the edges of society sometimes." 

"Sometimes all it takes is one person to say, 'Hey, I think you might like this,' to spark curiosity and shift someone's entire worldview."

"When do you stop being an artist is the question and how much of this work that you're doing really should be seen as part of your artistic practice."

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://www.gold.ac.uk/make/ 

https://sites.gold.ac.uk/animatingarchives/ 

Yes to the Work!: The Women's Art Library https://www.art360foundation.org.uk/media
- film by Holly Antrum commissioned by the Art360 Foundation

PODCAST HOST BIO

With over 30 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.

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