Telling Stories through Saved Objects: The Southeast Chicago Archive and Storytelling Project
How might interactive documentary tools expand the meaning of archives as well as public storytelling about history itself? How might the objects that people save help us explore experiences of class and racial difference? The newly launched Southeast Chicago Archive and Storytelling Project represents an innovative collaboration among academics, artists, and an all-volunteer community museum located in a multi-racial former steel mill region. “Storylines” are generated from objects that residents saved, highlighting themes of labor, immigration, race, and the environment.
Christine Walley is a Professor of Anthropology at MIT. She is the author of Exit Zero: Family and Class in Post-Industrial Chicago (University of Chicago Press, 2013) and a co-creator of a documentary film Exit Zero: An Industrial Family Story (2017).
Chris Boebel is Director of Media Development at MIT Open Learning, and teaches classes at MIT on VR and documentary film. A filmmaker by training, he has produced and directed award-winning feature films, documentaries, and television, including work shown on PBS, the BBC, and at more than 50 film festivals.
Jeff Soyk is an award-winning media artist and MIT OpenDocLab fellow alum. His work includes Hollow (2013 Peabody Award winner), PBS Frontline’s Inheritance (2016 News & Documentary EMMY winner), and Zeki Müren Hotline (2017 RIDM exhibit selection).