Future Archive

Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2026 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm

Location: Library for International and Public Affairs

Type: Arts In Action

Genre: Art, Research, Storytelling, Zine, Bunker Hill

ADMISSION:
Admission is free and open to everyone. No reservations required.

RSVP

DESCRIPTION:
Future Archive is an exhibition showcasing student work from the Bunker Hill Refrain Project.

Through archival research, art, and storytelling, USC undergraduates and Los Angeles high school students have created original zines, videos, and a 3D model that recover the lives and histories of Bunker Hill before urban renewal transformed the neighborhood.

What to Expect:
USC students, former Bunker Hill residents, and community members will view and interact with this exhibition that explores whose stories enter the historical record and how young people can help shape the archive. 

About the Project:
“Bunker Hill Refrain: Reimagining the Rebel Archive” is a multi-year community memory project that invites young people to imagine more equitable urban futures through artmaking, archival research, and collaboration. The project has brought together former Bunker Hill residents and their descendants, Los Angeles high school students, librarians at the Los Angeles Public Library’s Octavia Lab, and USC students, staff, and faculty. Working from a growing “rebel archive” of family photographs, oral histories, and interviews, participants counter mid-twentieth-century narratives that dismissed the neighborhood as a slum fit for demolition—recovering its histories while envisioning new community futures. Learn more at bunkerhillrefrain.org.

Project team: Meredith Drake Reitan, Andrzej Rutkowski, Matheus “Mats” Borges, and Lauren Kratz.

Presented by Bunker Hill Refrain in partnership with USC Libraries and the Los Angeles Public Library, with generous support from USC Arts in Action.


Sign up

Sign up for the latest news and event updates from USC Visions and Voices!