About the Archive

The Archive originated as a live interactive installation in Minneapolis on unceded Dakota homeland and Anishinaabeg territory. The project has amassed nearly 1000 contributions from three tributary events: Northern Spark and Queertopia in 2018 and The Art Shanty Projects in 2020.

The Archive is not an accountability process itself nor act of reparations. We see the Archive as a place to practice and build the skills needed to seek future accountability as well as an opportunity to learn from other participants’ experiences responding to similar harms.

This website was created in October 2020 with support from TEDxMinneapolis as a digital version of the paper Archive; as we begin to receive digital contributions, we are curious to see how the project grows and changes.

For more information about the Archive or to get in touch about collaboration, please email us at abodyofremorse@gmail.com.

Accessibility note: the archived contributions are not currently accessible for folks using screenreaders and other assistive technologies. We are thinking through solutions and apologize for our lack of inclusion at this time.

Below are some photographs from former iterations of the Archive including its premiere at Northern Spark 2018 and its installation at the Art Shanties Project 2020.

Participants browsing the Archive
Participants browsing the Archive
Many participants reading, two in the foreground smiling
Participant filling out an apology form
Sami offering a clipboard and form
Sami speaking to a crowd of participants
The yurt that housed the Archive at the Art Shanties Projects
Apology and pardon forms hanging up inside the yurt
Close up a sign. Text can be found on About the Archive
Sami and Essie staffing the yurt
Close up of an apology form
Close up of a pardon form
The top of the yurt, a clear dome
Interior of the yurt