Collecting, Organizing, and Teaching the Ephemera of Art Biennials

Abstract

Art fairs and biennials have become an essential part of the story of contemporary art and architecture. Ephemeral handouts, pamphlets, and posters—a hallmark of these gatherings—have the potential to help students and researchers understand these events if preserved for future use. However, libraries and archives that want to collect ephemeral material from biennials face several challenges, including the difficulty of collecting these materials remotely, developing appropriate methods to best organize this type of material, and determining the best way to present these materials to students and scholars. This article describes a case study at the University of Colorado Boulder of creating an archival collection of ephemera from biennials.