11/F, Hollywood Center, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
Following the launch of its 25th anniversary programme series, Archive for All: Growing with Communities, Asia Art Archive (AAA) presents a new round of public programmes in 2026. Bringing together artists, archivists, researchers, and communities across Asia and beyond, the series explores how archives shape artistic practice, generate knowledge, and foster community engagement. The 2026 programmes include public talks and a workshop for Hong Kong International Archives Week 2026, Part II of the exhibition At 25: Artists’ Early Worlds, the launch of the Archiving Handbook, and a new behind-the-scenes conversation series in AAA’s online publishing platform. Together, these initiatives position the archive as a living and evolving space, activated through collective use, interpretation, and exchange.
Public talks, workshop, and guided tours on The Art of Archiving
June 6–7, 2026
For Hong Kong International Archives Week 2026, AAA and Hong Kong Archives Society co-organise two public talks during the Archives Expo, followed by a workshop and guided tours at AAA. The first talk brings together art archives professionals to discuss methodologies for activating archival materials. The second talk convenes Hong Kong artists to reflect on archival practices from the perspective of artistic production. Building on these discussions, the workshop introduces participants to preservation techniques for analogue tapes, while guided tours of AAA’s library and D-Lab offer insight into the organisation’s archival and digitisation practices.
Exhibition: At 25: Artists’ Early Worlds, Part II
July 24–October 31, 2026
AAA’s 25th anniversary exhibition concludes with At 25: Artists’ Early Worlds, Part II. Building on the guiding question, “What were you doing at 25?,” this chapter features Bahc Yiso (1957–2004), Salima Hashmi (b. 1942), Holly Lee (1953–2024), and Raqs Media Collective (formed in 1992). Through rarely seen archival materials and artworks, complemented by new commissions, the exhibition explores how archives may uncover artists’ formative years, attest to their valuable memories, or evoke the worlds of artists who are no longer with us. The exhibition also highlights how artistic practices often extend beyond artmaking into areas such as education, writing, and advocacy.
Archiving Handbook launch
July 2026
The Archiving Handbook is conceived as an introductory guide to archiving for artists and art spaces. Bringing together foundational archival principles with insights drawn from AAA’s twenty-five years of experience, the publication also incorporates feedback gathered through a year of Archiving Workshops with contemporary art practitioners. Addressing the specific needs and concerns of today’s cultural workers, the handbook offers practical approaches to building and caring for art archives.
LIKE A FEVER: Five Squared
Five Squared is a behind-the-scenes series developed for AAA’s 25th Anniversary, where team members share memorable encounters, personal discoveries, and experiences of working at AAA. The series is published on LIKE A FEVER, AAA’s online publishing platform of art and cultural criticism.
Archive for All: Growing with Communities is supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, as well as Mimi Brown & Alp Erçil and Wendy Lee & Stephen Li.
The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.
