Theme: Redefining The Audiovisual Archives in the Digital Age
Bangkok, Thailand
The Seventeenth SEAPAVAA Conference and General Assembly is hosted by the Thai Film Archive (Public Organization) and co-hosted by the Thai government’s Public Relations Department (PRD). The event was held in the charming and hospitable city of Bangkok on May 27 – 31, 2013. The focus of this conference was on redefining the audiovisual archives with the myriad of changes that the archives face globally. The impact of these changes range from the redefinition of the archiving profession, its philosophy, principles and legislations, to the strategies employed towards advocacy and the day-to-day operations of archives.
The Conference’s Symposium sessions explored approaches and possible answers to how Audiovisual Archives and Archivists can adapt to the challenges of the digital age. As concluded, Archives which have been developed over time are continuously being redefined. The digital era presents opportunities and challenges to the archival institutions but archives will continue to exist because the work of archives is meant to last. Archives become more valuable when we are able to understand and anticipate what users want and allow the archival contents to be meaningfully utilised by stakeholders.
Moreover, the Conference had two vital workshops that run concurrently. The workshops discussed managing metadata in the digital realm and on film identification for collection assessment. Also part of the conference were the archival screening gem and an excursion. The special inaugural of Restoration Asia (RA) was also held during the Conference on 31 May 2013. It was dedicated to introduce the film restoration work done by archives and companies all around Asia. As part of Restoration Asia, participants can look forward to screenings of four restored Asian films on 1 – 2 June 2013.
Communication and cooperation among archival institutions, individual archivists and professional associations are vital to the rapid advancement of the AV archiving field and to the deepening of knowledge and expertise. The 17th Conference invited all participants to expand their networks, meet and with professionals and institutions in the archiving field as solutions for issues, challenges are shared in redefining the audiovisual archives in the digital age.