The Blinken OSA Archivum
The Blinken OSA Archivum is a complex archival institution. While the teaching programs of CEU were expelled from Hungary and had to move to Vienna, the Archivum with some other non-teaching units of the university stayed in Budapest to make available historical facts in an atmosphere of public discourse that is not bothered by facts.
The Archivum is a repository of important collections, historical documents, primarily related to the history and afterlives of the Cold War, grave international human rights violations and marginalized communities including the Roma, LGBTQI+ people, and people living with disabilities. In addition, the Archivum is the official archive of CEU, as well as the Open Society Foundations network.
A research institute dealing with archival, taxonomical, informational, and historical problems related to its holdings, the Archivum seeks to work in a self-reflective way by problematizing its tasks, and its changing practices. It serves the researchers, and at the same time works together with them, drawing upon their experience to assess, evaluate, and if necessary, change its processes and practices. Together with the International Visegrad Fund, it provides research fellowships to scholars.
Our holdings and the research based on our collections are the basis of an expanding teaching program. Our professional archival and research work is integrated with complex public programs, some of which we also archive, and turn into virtual exhibitions. Our Galeria Centralis serves as the focal point of exhibitions, performances, installations, film screenings, lectures, and seminars.
We are primarily interested in the content, rather than the materiality of our documents; we actively seek out non-traditional documents—material previously marginalized based on its content, social origin, or form. A considerable part of our holding comes from sources designated (under authoritarian regimes, even today) clandestine organizations. The Archivum is also “an archive of last resort,” as it helps important organizations and institutions whose holdings are in danger for organizational, ideological, or political reasons, to find a secure and professional haven to preserve their endangered documents. Through all these endeavors, we advocate open access, equal rights to information, the ethical use of personal data, open formats and open standards, and broad access to cultural heritage; and fight globally for the opening of archival collections. The Blinken OSA Archivum is one of the original signatories of the Budapest Open Access Initiative.
Throughout the past centuries, archives were considered trusted institutions, but in an age of disinformation, misuse of sources and manipulation of facts, trust in institutions—including archival—institutions, and professional integrity has been undermined and dramatically decreased. We work to rebuild the credibility of the archive and its holdings.
The Archivum is an activist archive that—based on documents in its holdings and professional conviction—strives to publicly reflect on matters of societal interest, including revisionism, falsification of history, violation of human rights, social injustice, or the situation of public collections.
