Theme: Collection and Access Development: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Bandung and Jakarta, Indonesia
The Thirteenth Conference and General Assembly of the South East Asia-Pacific Audio Visual Archive Association (SEAPAVAA) was held in the cities of Bandung and Jakarta, Indonesia on May 14-20, 2009. It was hosted by the Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia (National Archives of Indonesia), in cooperation with the Badan Arsip dan Perpustakaan Daerah Jawa Barat (West Java), the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia and Sinematek Indonesia. With the conference theme “Collection and Access Development: Two Sides of the Same Coin” the Conference aimed to consider how collections can be grown, maintained, managed and accessed amidst difficult economic times and with new technological grounds.
The conference was attended by 125 delegates composed of archivists, academics, government officials, filmmakers and the likes representing 14 different countries from the region and beyond. Like previous years, the Conference was composed of a symposium, the annual general assembly, screening nights, workshops, cultural tours and institutional visits.
The Opening Ceremonies were held at the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Savoy Homann in Bandung, Indonesia on the morning of the 15th of May. In his welcoming remarks, Dedi Junaedi, Director of BAPUSIPDA, greeted everyone and stressed the importance of the conference to Indonesians and the rest of the region sharing a common goal towards cultural heritage preservation. Following Junaedi’s speech Director-General of ANRI, Djoko Utomo, welcomed everyone to Bandung and expressed his honor to host this year’s conference. Tuenjai Sinthuvnik, current President of SEAPAVAA, in her opening remarks that followed greeted everyone and extended her appreciation to the hosts and participants as she wished for a substantive conference.
With the theme “Collection and Access Development: Two Sides of the Same Coin,” this year’s symposium was chaired by SEAPAVAA Secretary-General Tan Bee Thiam and Council Member Adrian Wood. The Chairpersons opened the symposium by articulating the focus of the sessions which is on growing collections and extending accessibility. The papers, panels and discussions in the symposium touched and delved into current situations and developments in the field of AV Archiving in the international, regional and national levels with a particular focus on Indonesia. Matters regarding orphan films, non-mainstream materials, obsolescence and copyright which plague collection and access issues were also discussed.