To promote contemporary artistic research, since 1991 the Viafarini Archive has been collecting essays, catalogs, and portfolios of artists active in Italy. The Portfolio Archive documents over 5,000 artists, and a selection of materials has been digitized and is accessible via the portal viafariniarchive.org.

The portfolios include: biographies, bibliographies, press reviews, artist statements, and projects collected over the years. These are supplemented by images of works collected through both analog and digital media. The portal includes in-depth sections highlighting public art, relational art, and socially engaged art practices developed over the years by artists of different generations.

The Archive is recognized as being of historical interest by the Lombardy Archival and Bibliographic Superintendency – Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (MiBACT) (Decree No. 14/2016).

As a creative incubator, the Archive promotes training, research, and experimental projects and has been based at the Fabbrica del Vapore since 2008. The Archive functions as a network and knowledge hub, providing documentation, artist consultation, production, residency, training, communication, and exhibition services from a transdisciplinary perspective.