Archives of Change

Archives of Change is a research and development project that brings together artists, cultural workers, and community organisers from the UK and Indonesia to explore new, inclusive ways of documenting and sharing culture.

The project connects Third Version Creative (UK), Musyawarah Arsip (MUAR) (Indonesia), and Revoluton Arts (Luton, UK) through a cross-cultural partnership supported by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture (CTC) programme.

Rooted in societies shaped by migration, transition, and colonial legacies, Archives of Change foregrounds experimental, community-led archival practices. It reimagines what an archive can be — not just a collection of objects or records, but a living process of storytelling, listening, and collaboration.

Through a series of digital exchange labs, peer learning sessions, and an in-person residency in Makassar, Indonesia, artists and researchers from both countries are exploring alternative methods of archiving. These include zine-making, oral storytelling, sound mapping, and community cartography — creative tools that open up new ways of preserving memory and heritage.

At its heart, Archives of Change is about mutual exchange and ethical collaboration. It invites practitioners to rethink how we engage with cultural memory, and how artistic and community-led practices can help us document histories that are fluid, collective, and deeply human.

 This project represents the first phase of a longer-term partnership between UK and Indonesian collaborators, laying the groundwork for future research, creative production, and shared archival strategies.

Partners:

Musyawarah Arsip (MUAR) (Indonesia)

Revoluton Arts (UK)

Supported by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture programme.