Ancestral Record Chain · Collection 005
This one is not
applied for.
Ten capsules. One hundred years.
The Steward selects.
In Q1 2030, ARC will seal ten capsules for one hundred years.
Ten people. Selected by the Steward over the next five years: from participants across all prior collections, from people met in the course of the archive's work, from lives that demanded a longer record than any other tier could hold.
The capsules will be sealed on Q1 2030. They will be opened in 2130. By then, the current Steward will have passed the archive to someone else, who will have passed it to someone else again.
The chain does not break. The capsule opens regardless.
"Some preservation is not democratic.
The Steward decides what the archive
holds at this scale."
No applications
The Century Collection is not open for expressions of interest. Participating in other ARC collections does not constitute an application. The Steward identifies subjects independently.
Selection criteria
The Steward does not publish selection criteria. The decision is made on the basis of the archive's long-term record: what it needs to hold for a century, and who can provide it.
Notification
Subjects are notified directly. There is no public announcement before the sealing date.
The session
Extended. Multiple days if necessary. The format is determined by what the subject's record requires, not by a fixed structure.
The certificate
Issued upon sealing. The only documentation the subject receives. The capsule opens in 2130.
On the chain
The current Steward will not be the one who opens these capsules. The archive will have passed through at least two more hands by 2130. This is not a limitation. It is the structure.
ARC was not founded by this Steward. It will not end with him. The Century Collection is the archive's long bet on its own continuity.
If you are meant to be in this collection,
you will hear from the Steward.
Not before.