Overview
Now in its fourth year with over 110 international alumni, Archival Bootcamp is an independent, 6-day artistic residency, pedagogical research space, and nomadic learning community held in a restored historic masía (mill) in the mountains of the Comunidad Valenciana, Spain. Founded and directed by educator and artistic-researcher Camila Kevorkian as an affective, decolonial branch of trabajo práctico, the program is co-facilitated with memory worker and pirate librarian Andrea Domínguez (based on Kumeyaay Lands / Tijuana–San Diego). Nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains, rivers, and nature paths, the residency brings together small, international cohorts to engage with archives as creative and critical tools.
Mission
Archival Bootcamp aims to reframe archival practice as a living, situated, and critical site of inquiry rather than a neutral historical repository. Grounded in critical pedagogy, feminist/queer theory, embodied knowledge, and community care, the residency seeks to foster alternative methodologies for engaging with silences, omissions, and personal or collective memories. It prioritizes slowness, slowness, slowness, and emotional knowledge, creating an accessible environment free from heavy academic jargon where uncertainty and disagreement are held with mutual accountability.
Programs / Opportunities
- 6-Day International Residency Cohorts: Small residential programs (up to 15 participants) featuring thematic focus sessions (Archives, Methodologies, Movement), peer-to-peer pedagogical workshops, afternoon mutual nurturing project review sessions, and shared access to the Nomadic Library (a curated collection on archives, memory, and artistic practice).
- Community Archive Caretakers Scholarship: An annual, fully funded residency grant covering the €950 program fee, accommodation, and vegetarian meals for practitioners working with non-profit or grassroots community archive organizations (with priority given to applicants from the Global South).
- Self-Funded Residential Packages: Tiered, fee-based stay options covering 5 nights/6 days of lodging, vegetarian meals, full programming, and formal grant support documentation.
Target Community
- Multidisciplinary Memory Workers & Creators: Visual artists, photographers, filmmakers, writers, researchers, archivists, librarians, educators, activists, and cultural practitioners working on archival projects at any stage of development.
