When looking at the definition of „archives“, one is often times confronted with the term „history“ or „historical“. This suggests that archives are storing material which is located in the past, hence, its significance is also searched for in the past. The „Karl Max Kessler Archive“, however, wants to liberate itself from any temporal constraints and make the photographies significant for the present as well as the future and the past.
In order to accomplish this goal, the archive aims to provide residencies for artists and scholars from all over the world to conduct artistic and scientific research on the photographies. The depicted landscapes, people and traditions of the past should be made rehabilitated to establish a relation between the picture as a medium, the depicted material of the past and their topical reference to the present. This also offers the possibility for inhabitants to interact with the archive and actively take part in its preservation.