Germano Celant, Fotografia maledetta e non, 2015

Who wouldn’t want to know the secret to preserving memories, from the objects we are fond of to the most important moments of our lives? Who wouldn’t want to easily find an emotion enclosed in the letter that made us fall in love, or imprinted in the ticket of an unforgettable concert? It’s not just a question of order, but of method and familiarity with the practices that have always been applied to the archives of companies, families and institutions. Andrea Montorio, whose work has contributed to redefining the image of archives in Italy, guides us to reflect on the meaning of remembering, on the concept of personal memory and on the need to pass on, to our children and to those who will come after, what we wish to remain of us. He tells us how to do it, but above all, why to do it, the beauty of telling our stories and the form in which others can read us. Through nine narrative chapters, complemented by simple and practical exercises, we will search for the ingredient that can transform memory into something alive and pulsating. We will discover that everything has its place: if the natural place for a hat is a head and the place for a treasure is a safe, the place for “things that have a history” is always the archive. Reminder teaches us how we can build one made to measure for us.