Lesson 5.4: Knowledge and continuity
4. Archiving as resistance
Creative resistance is not limited to art-making; it also includes storytelling, archiving, and documentation. Across RESIST case studies, activists use:
Archiving is political. As Sara Ahmed (2017) notes, to ‘make things visible’ is a feminist act. Storytelling preserves what repression tries to erase, ensuring that communities carry their knowledge forward even when organisations fall or people enter exile.
In Belarus, Turkey, and Greece, activists described archiving as an emotional form of resistance – a practice of care for future generations.