The Archiv der Avantgarden - Egidio Marzona not only owns an important collection of art and design objects. The centrepiece of the archive consists of around 5,000 black file folders in which the collector has compiled so-called "ephemera" over decades. This includes things that are not usually kept: Invitation cards for exhibitions, magazine covers or photographs used as templates for printing.
Egidio Marzona organised his collection primarily in "black folders". In the archive, the objects are removed from the leaflet covers of these folders and stored professionally in new grey archive boxes. To protect the objects from rust, the archive staff usually also remove metallic materials such as stapling strips and paper clips during this process. In this way, the objects can be stored dust-, light- and acid-free. In the next step, the archive materials are digitised so that they can be accessed via the "Daphne" museum database.
The wooden card index box shown here was once used to store the customer card index of the art dealer Rudolf Probst, whose estate belongs to the ADA. The more than 300 cards were stored in grey archive boxes and can be viewed in the original or digitally for research purposes (ADA, inv. no. E 2/Fides 105).
Text: Barbara Tlusty, Archivist, and Patrick Wilden, Freelance Inventory Recording