Queer Archival Un/Making as Tangible Information Activism

We introduce queer archival un/making, i.e. both making and unmaking with historical materials, which invites reflection on queer identities and community archives, toward information activist engagements (or, how LGBTQIA+ people strategically use communication technologies to access knowledge and further social movements). We hosted workshops where participants created buttons by drawing and collaging with materials from the Queer Zine Archive Project, then embedded buttons with their own personal oral histories. From our workshops, we provide the following design reflections on queer archival un/making: (1) un/making from queer perspectives encourages questioning, trying on, and exploring identities both personally and collectively; (2) queer archival un/making can encompass sharing artifacts outside of research institutions to engage community archives and information activist practices; (3) queer archival un/making invites reflections on what is missing from community archives and how un/making with historical materials can configure alternatives. Our design reflections expand the practices of unmaking in HCI by looking to queer archives, paralleling the messiness through which queer identities and histories are made and interpreted.