.png "Poster for “Envisioning Metropolis,” showing a humanoid robot above an orange New York City skyline on a yellow background, with event information for the 2026 New York Archives Week symposium.")
Title: New York Archives Week Symposium & Awards Ceremony 2026
Date & Time: Friday, October 23, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Capacity: 170
Admission: See Below for Details
Location: American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
A little under a century ago, the expressionist silent film Metropolis made its world premiere in Berlin. Written by Thea von Harbou and directed by Fritz Lang, the film takes place in what was then the distant year of 2026. Set against the backdrop of a futuristic, dystopian cityscape of endless skyscrapers, the film imagines a society riven with class conflict and inequality. Our current year 2026 marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam and the Semiquincentennial of the establishment of the United States. This synchronicity allows us to explore concepts of commemoration and chronology—what are we celebrating when we mark these anniversaries: our past or our future?
When it premiered in 1927, Metropolis faced widespread criticism, and studio executives demanded the film go through rigorous rounds of editing. Much of the film’s original cut was lost—until 2008, when the original version was discovered by Paula Felix-Didier in the archives of the Museo del Cine, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is an illustrative example of archivists as mediators in the process of remembrance and rediscovery. In this symposium, we will consider questions of legacy and memorialization, and how these abstract concepts come to bear on our work as archival stewards in concrete, material ways.
As an expressionist work of science-fiction, Metropolis aimed to offer its audience a vision of a far-off future. But, the film speaks as much to the future as it does to the anxieties and concerns of its contemporary audience. As archivists, our task is to preserve and catalog works of enduring value. We seek to provide for our successors a record of our predecessors’ time as well as our own. In this spirit, where is the intersection between story, history and prediction, and how do we unravel these interrelated concepts? Let us examine how our ancestors envisioned the future and interrogate how we look back on history today, in order to better understand the role we collectively play in the ongoing dialogue between past, present, and future.
Utilizing Metropolis as a conceptual framework, and taking into consideration the pivotal anniversaries the nation will mark this year, we invite reflections on how archives can prepare for the future and what we might envision that future to be. Recognizing the current realities of the socio-political landscape, both nationally and locally, what can these commemorative milestones reveal? Is it possible to learn from history in order to glimpse a utopia of liberty and justice for all?
The symposium offers a full day of presentations on research, labor strategies, and best practices, with the aim of bringing together archivists, records managers, librarians, museum professionals, scholars, researchers, and the general public.
Please also join us to celebrate the distinguished work and lasting achievements of individuals and institutions of our profession for the Awards Ceremony, which will be doled out throughout the symposium.
Coffee and a light lunch will be provided. Please indicate any dietary restrictions or allergies on your registration form.
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Please note: This event will not be recorded, but presentations will be organized in a proceedings document available sometime after the event.
This is an in-person event limited to 170 people. Advance registration is required and non-transferable. Please note that you must reserve a ticket in advance online in order to attend the symposium and awards ceremony.
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Admission:
A.R.T. Members: $30.00 per person
A.R.T. Student Members: $15.00 per person
Non-A.R.T. Members: $45.00 per person
New Member Sign-Up: $20 per person
Those who register for a new A.R.T. membership between now and the end of the day on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, will receive a discount code for the symposium in their membership confirmation email.
If you are currently experiencing financial hardship, we have set aside a limited number of complimentary tickets. We operate on the honor system, so no documentation or proof of financial need is required. We are prioritizing first-time attendees and students.
If you would like to request a complimentary ticket, please complete this form by the end of the day on Friday, October 16. If selected, you will be automatically registered for the conference and notified by email. This form will close once all complimentary tickets have been claimed.
If you have any questions, please contact Director of Communications Nicole Font at communications@nycarchivists.org.
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9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Registration
Location: Futter Gallery, 77th Street Entrance
Pick up your name badge and symposium materials.
10:00 AM - 10:20 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Location: Kaufmann Theater
Stephanie Neel, A.R.T. Board President
Manhattan Borough President Proclamation, Brad Hoylman-Sigal
Mayoral Proclamation
Bonnie Yochelson, Margaret Morton Archive
Herbert Durán, Education Director
10:20 AM - 11:00 AM
Keynote Address: To Be Announced
Location: Kaufmann Theater
11:00 AM - 11:10 AM
Morning Break
11:10 AM - 12:40 PM
Ghost in the Shell: The Changing Technological Basis of our Profession
Location: Kaufmann Theater
Ghost in the Shell will explore the ongoing impact of new technologies on age-old archival practices and routines. With different varieties of “Artificial Intelligence”, “machine learning”, or “large language models” increasing in power and ubiquity every year, those dedicated to the preservation and utilization must be willing to confront the dangers and opportunities of these new technologies; the ways in which they reshape our paradigms and the ways in which they simply reinforce existing dilemmas. In this panel, researchers will delve into questions of utilization and adaptation, on both a practical and theoretical level, and discuss the ways in which our values and goals as archivists are dependent on the technology we wield in that service.
Tactical Recordkeeping: Archival Perspectives on Evidence from Autonomous Weapons | Patrick McGee/CUNY Archival Technologies Lab/Research Fellow, James Lowry/CUNY Archival Technologies Lab/Director
The Print That Survived: AI, Static Sites, and the Access Layer We Don't Preserve | Guo Liu, Symbiosis Lab. Independent software practice in New York City
From the "Nitrate Glitch" to Forensic Certainty: Implementing the Celluloid Cipher for Lost Cinema Recovery | Rachel Gullett / AMIA/ Independent Archivist and Digital Preservationist
Nobody Is Going to Describe the Backlog: Machine-Generated Description Without Contaminating the Archival Record | Keith G. Pemberton II/Yale University, Society of American Archivists AI Taskforce/Student Researcher
12:40 PM - 12:50 PM
Digital Archives and Innovation Award
Location: Kaufmann Theater
12:50 PM - 1:50 PM
Lunch
Location: Davis Classroom
1:50 PM - 2:10 PM
ART Volunteer of the Year Award and Emerging Professional Award
Location: Kaufmann Theater
2:10 PM - 3:20 PM
I Think This is the Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship: Shared Archives, Shared Spaces
Location: Kaufmann Theater
This panel invites us to explore community-led methodology as a foundation of archival theory and practice. As we continue to expand past the traditional boundaries and structures of the archival institution, it becomes more imperative that archives forge partnerships with the communities they serve. Panelists will delve into the meaningful opportunities that arise from community stewardship, as well as confront its possible obstacles.
Ensuring History: Decentralization, Documenting Dissent, and Academic Freedom at Columbia University | Conrad Lochner, Teachers College, Columbia University/Special and Digital Collections Librarian, EY Zipris, Teachers College, Columbia University/adjunct professor, part-time instructor, and doctoral student in the Art and Art Education program
Cultivating Memory: Archiving Bronx Green-Up and the Challenges of Preserving Community Garden History | Ashley Aberg, Reference Archivist, New York Botanical Garden
Institutional Hosting: Redefining Infrastructure for Community-Led Archiving | Emanuel Nevame Agbavitor / NYU + LIU / Student & Video Editor
3:20 PM - 3:30 PM
Afternoon Break
3:30 PM - 3:40 PM
Community Engagement Award
Kaufmann Theater
3:40 PM - 4:50 PM
And the Band Played On: Documenting Crisis, Preserving Memory
Location: Kaufmann Theater
And the Band Played On will delve into novel approaches to stewardship and extended access. Looking beyond the traditional boundaries and structures of the archival institution, panelists will explore how archivists can work alongside individuals and community groups who steward their own collections. They will explore case studies that document health crises and protest, examining how coalition-building can bring together farflung archival material and foster thought-provoking projects that call attention to community activism and resiliency.
Collecting COVID: disorganized thoughts on a renegade collection | Jacob Ford / COVID Material Culture Museum / Founder
Invisible Records, Invisible Labor: Unearthing Archival Media to Surface Two Historic Sanitation Worker Strikes | Katie Heiserman, 2 Train Productions, Co-Founder
Friendship, Care, and the Archival Afterlives of Club 57 | Brittany Shaw, Queens College GSLIS student
4:50 PM - 5:00 PM
Award for Archival Achievement
Location: Kaufmann Theater
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Please note that by registering and attending this event/webinar, you automatically grant your consent to be photographed and/ or video-recorded and to the release, publication, or reproduction of any and all recorded media of your appearance, voice, and name for any purpose whatsoever in perpetuity in connection with the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. and its initiatives, including, by way of example only, use on websites, in social media, news, newsletters, Metropolitan Archivist, and advertising.
