Playbook

Drawing on the learnings, workshops, meetings, festivals, collaborations and exchanges that unfold throughout the lifetime of FILE NOT FOUND, we are developing a Playbook for Resilient Cultural Archives, which will be published in its final form in late 2027, alongside the exhibition resulting from the project's ten artist residencies.

Until then, we will release individual chapters that share emerging questions, first reflections and provisional approaches. The first chapter, Strategies of Resistance, brings together ideas, conversations and insights that emerged during the FILE NOT FOUND Retreat in Lisbon in March 2026, where more than 20 archives from around the world gathered to discuss the challenges of preserving memory amid growing political, social and technological pressures.

Rather than proposing fixed solutions, this publication documents an ongoing collective process of reflection, exchange and imagination. It explores how archives can be protected and sustained as living infrastructures of memory, care, resistance and democracy.

As the first contribution to the Playbook, this chapter opens a conversation that will continue to evolve throughout the project. We invite you to explore the publication and join us in reflecting on how archives can remain accessible, resilient and relevant in an increasingly uncertain world.

Download the first chapter here: