Theme: Memory, History, and Archives
SEAPAVAA returned to the Pacific for our 23rd Conference and General Assembly 25th to 30th June 2019, in beautiful Nouméa, New Caledonia. The event was hosted by the Bibliotheque Bernheim and ADCK Tjibaou Cultural Centre, with the support of the government of New Caledonia through the Ministry of Culture. The partnering institutions included the University of New Caledonia and the Archives de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. The theme, Memory, History, and Archives was chosen for this year’s event as it was relevant to the Pacific experience where orality underpins memories and histories.
The conference attracted some 91 delegates from 25 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. They comprised archivists, librarians, academics, heritage professionals and international students of archival studies, amongst others. The participation of delegates specifically from Tuvalu, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati was significant as it promoted awareness and generated discussions on the situation of archiving in the Pacific.
The event took place on the tribal and ancestral lands of the Kanak people, i.e. the ADCK Tjibaou Cultural Centre. The delegates participated in a ceremonial welcome during which they offered simple gifts such as fabrics, from their home countries, as a mark of respect to the Kanak people in the presence of director Emmanuel Tjibaou and staff of the ADCK Tjibaou Cultural Centre. The opening ceremony was graced by Antoine-Laurent Figuières, a representative from the Ministry of Culture.
We had a total of 11 presentations over a two-day symposium from 27th to 28th June including: two keynotes by respectively, Emmanuel Tjibaou who explored the link between memory and archive, and Professor Kwok Kian Woon of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore who spoke on “The Work of Historical Memory in the Age of Digital Transformation”; a special lecture titled “The Role of Libraries in Preserving Cultural Memory” by Christine Mackenzie, the President-elect of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA); and a SEAPAVAA Fellow lecture on “Revisiting Ethnographic Collections” by Mick Newnham.
Other professional and hospitality events included: two workshops from 25th to 26th June titled “Using Databases for Audiovisual Preservation”, a FIAT-IFTA (International Federation of Television Archives) workshop conducted by Brecht Declercq of the national audiovisual archive of Flanders, Belgium (VIAA) and Etienne Merchand o the Institut national de l’audiovisuel (INA), and “Overview of AV Open Source Tools for Archivists” workshop delivered by Joshua Ng of Archives New Zealand and Bruno Canlet of the INA; a Public Archival Gems Screening; institutional visits to Archives de la Nouvelle-Calédonie and ADCK Tjibaou Cultural; welcome and farewell dinners; and an excursion to L’ilê aux Canards where delegates visited the beach and participated in activities including snorkeling and a weaving workshop.
This year, SEAPAVAA was proud to present the inaugural Best Archival Project in the Region Award sponsored by AV Preservation by reto.ch, to the Save Myanmar Film for their grassroots initiative to restore Myanmar’s film heritage. Certificates of commendation were also awarded to these projects: : Colourisation of archival footage for documentary series Australia in Colour submitted by Stranger than Fiction Films with National Film and Sound Archives Australia; Modern Display: The Archive Preservation Project of Monthly Calendars’ artists in China; and Media Archive Management System-based on AI both submitted by Shanghai Media Group. The 2019 SEAPAVAA Fellow Award was presented to Adrian Wood (Japan) and Jamie Lean (New Zealand). Congratulations to all!
The 23rd SEAPAVAA General Assembly was held on 29th June and attended by members of the association. The matters discussed included the association’s upcoming projects and international relations. It was also announced that the 24th SEAPAVAA Conference and General Assembly will be hosted by the Vietnam Film Institute and will take place in Da Nang, Vietnam, in mid-June 2020.