Helga Lyubartovich —

I am an archivist, conservator, researcher, and filmmaker working with contemporary art and its fragile traces. I work across personal and institutional archives, developing systems of preservation, building digital databases, and creating tools that make archival materials more accessible and readable. Across all my work runs a shared concern: how to care for what is fleeting, and how documents, however small or temporary, can become meaningful structures of memory.

At the same time, ephemera function not only as documentation but as objects of visual culture in their own right. Their design, materiality, and modes of distribution reflect the aesthetic, social, and technological conditions of their time. By tracing these elements, the project reveals how ephemeral documents capture shifts in artistic languages, institutional strategies, and forms of communication—preserving what was never meant to last.

Alongside this work, I'm developing a research-based article reflecting on methods of working with ephemera, their role as historical sources, and the challenges of preserving physical traces. The future database becames not only a tool for structuring and accessing materials, but also a framework for analysis revealing patterns, gaps, and connections within the archive, and opening new ways of reading institutional histories through their most fragile documents.

Working across diverse contexts: from street art initiatives and nonconformist art collections to private artists’ archives and collectors’ holdings, I engage with materials that differ not only in form, but in their conditions of preservation, visibility, and access. This range highlights how memory is shaped by institutional frameworks as well as informal, self-organized practices, and how archival approaches must adapt to each environment.

My films move between research-based and personal narratives, engaging with archives, memory, and embodied experience. They address themes such as accessibility, displacement, care, and the legacy of unofficial culture, combining documentary, essayistic, and autobiographical approaches.

I help artists, institutions, and personal brands organize, structure, and preserve their archives in a clear and sustainable way—both physically and digitally. My work focuses on bringing order into complex collections of documents, materials, and data, ensuring they are accessible, well-documented, and prepared for long-term preservation.
Alongside my archival work, I also offer lectures and workshops as part of my educational and public practice. These formats open up different ways of working with memory, focusing on ephemera, institutional and personal archives, and the role of care, attention, and responsibility within archival and museum contexts.