Arquivo e memória: Preservação e reactivação póstuma. Como manter vivo o legado de artistas?

Without a proper infrastructure, heirs and/or legal representatives are faced with the challenge of preserving, presenting and managing artist’s estates in the absence of their authors. After the death of the artist and without clear work’s set up instructions or guidelines, several questions arise: What to do with the material elements of works (when they exist) and the artist’s archive? How to keep artists’ legacy alive? This article aims to discuss the posthumous preservation of the work of three artists: Ana Vieira (Coimbra, 1940-2016), Ine Schröder (Heerlen, 1951-2014) and Nan Hoover (New York, 1931-2008). These artists left behind rich artistic legacies that present comparable challenges in the preservation and presentation of their works. Different approaches, such as reinstallation, reinterpretation, re-enactment and reconstruction were applied. More suited to the needs of contemporary art, these strategies challenge the traditional conservation paradigm