Vital Spaces and Living Spaces in Contemporary Archival Practice

This paper explores the different meanings of ‘space’ that emerged in the context of the humanities’ ‘archival turn’. The changing nature of the archival spaces due to the advent of the digital age is analysed. This study also focused on how the different ‘spaces’ of the archives relate to ‘time’ and the power of control over information, and reflects on which spaces are ‘vital’ for an archive in the contemporary world. Eventually, the role of ‘outside/living’ spaces in critically questioning the archive as a knowledge production system will be traced through the case of the repatriation of sound recordings in ethnomusicology.