El reto de los archivos intangibles

The challenge of the intangible archives

This article focuses on the invisible nature of some archives. First of all, we explore how invisibility has been considered as a property of a certain kind of archives for centuries. Secondly, we suggest some examples of how this invisibility becomes pervasive in a digital environment; and, taking these examples as starting point, we question the notion of archives-as-an-effect and reaffirm the notion of archives-as-an-action. Finally, we explore how the invisibility of the digital archives makes an impact on essential archival concepts, such as evidence and social admissibility.