ASA launched officially in 2006 and from this time dedicates its work to preservation and documentation of most valuable events in performative arts, happenings, performance art, para-theater, artistic actions. During this independent, grass-roots work of assembling art documentation, the Archives collected almost two thousand items, including over half a thousand hours of film recordings, footage documenting performing artists from more then 30 countries in process of art making, during performance art, concert as well as making an artistic statement during author's selfpresentation in front of the camera.

The Collection

Selection of the Archive consists of exeptional interviews with leading figures of contemporary art of action in Poland (this forms a major part of Archive's video collection) as well as with world famous performance artists, top contextual artists and world's pioneers of performance art.

The Art of Action Archives collection covers performances of masters of the medium, from manifestations of Jerzy Beres and Poland's first performance artist Zbigniew Warpechowski, to works by Adina Bar-On (Israel's pioneer of the art), disturbing happenings by Jiri Suruvka and Arti Grabowski, artistic concerts of Zbigniew Libera, and butoh maters dancers including Daisuke Yoshimoto and Atsushi Takenouchi.

In the heart of the Archive, there is a selection of intimate conversations with artists, many of unquastionable position in the field, such as Jan Swidzinski, creator of contextual art, Paul Panhayusen (Fluxus and Het Apollonius, Netherlands), Andrzej Urbanowicz (psychodelic art and the occult), Seiji Shimoda (directos of Japan's biggest performance art festival), Bruce Barber (one of the most important conceptual artists in Canada), to name only some. Interviews and selfpresentations include also influencial figures representing rising stars and established provocateurs (i.e.. David Cerny, Katarzyna Kozyra, Oskar Dawicki, Wilhelm Sasnal), who talk about their work and sources of creative work.

Uniting scientific and artistic activity is the most important goal of Archive's documentation project. It is an interdisciplinary aim of the work. That is why, Archive's coordinator, Jan Lubicz (visual artist, art historian, anthropologist and film director) has published a book „The Art of Action" (ed. BGSW, 2007), which was recognized and awarded by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. From the very biggining, the team of documentation filmmakers is formed by visual artists and profesional cinematographers (i.e. Rafal Leszczynski, Jan Cybis, Lukasz Gutt).

Art of Action Archives is involved in organisation and production of films, workshops, books, DVDs, multimedia publications, lectures, performance art festivals, exhibitions, public shows and many other forms of communication through art.