Interference Archive

The Interference Archive is an open stacks archival collection, publications, a study center, with public programs including exhibitions, workshops, talks, and screenings, all of which encourage critical and creative engagement. Their mission is to explore the relationship between cultural production and social movements.

The archive was founded in 2011 by Kevin Caplicki, Molly Fair, Dara Greenwald, and Josh MacPhee. The initial collection grew out of the personal accumulation of Dara and Josh, who amassed an extensive collection of materials including books, prints, music, moving images, and ephemera through their involvement in social movements, DIY and punk, and political art projects over the past 25 years. They turned this collection into a public archive with open-access to materials for the communities who created them. Since 2011, The Interference Archive has launched 3 to 4 exhibitions and 80 free events yearly.

The archive contains many kinds of objects that are created as part of social movements by the participants themselves: posters, flyers, publications, zines, books, T-shirts and buttons, moving images, audio recordings, subject files, and other materials. Moreover, the archive is an all-volunteer organization, with members of the community encouraged to shape the collection and programming. The collectively run space believes strongly in open stacks and accessibility for all.