2021 Virtual Conference

Theme: AV Archiving in Changing Times: Successes, Failures, and Challenge

In 2021, which was the 25^th anniversary of SEAPAVAA, the first virtual SEAPAVAA conference was held from 23^rd – 25^th June 2021 via Zoom webinar and SEAPAVAA Facebook live. The event was hosted by Vietnam Film Institute (VFI). The theme, “AV Archiving in Changing Times: Successes, Failures, and Challenge” presented a range of interesting and reflective presentations to activate and ignite attendees’ imagination on how to sustain the archives in the environment that we were living in now.

The conference received a total of 173 attendees from around the world. The keynote lecture “Adapting Digital Archives to Mitigate Climate Change” by Linda Tadic, the Founder/CEO of Digital Bedrock, presented on the environmental impact of digital preservation. Adrian Wood, SEAPAVAA Fellow, delivered the Fellowship lecture on the history of SEAPAVAA along with the changes of archives. There were 18 selected papers presented at the conference.

The authorized recordings of the conference sessions and the live Vietnamese cultural performance are available on SEAPAVAA’s Facebook page and SEAPAVAA’s YouTube channel.

One of the highlight activities was the Online Archival Gems Screening. While we were unable to have a physical archival gems screening, a collection of archival footage contributed by 16 members was viewable on SEAPAVAA’s Facebook page.

Last but not least, we presented the special screening of a unique collection of classic Vietnamese animation with newly rescored music performed by current Vietnamese artists: RED BALLOONS: Music for 20^th century Vietnamese Animation by The Onion Cellar and TPD Centre for the Development of Movie Talents, supported by the Vietnam Film Institute, British Council Vietnam, L’Espace Hanoi, Goethe-Institut Hanoi, The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, and Dogma Collection. The program was available on the online platform with support from The University of Illinois, Media Preservation Department.

For the second time in its history, SEAPAVAA held an online General Assembly from 3^rd May – 6^th June 2021, including a two-hour live discussion session via Zoom platform on 13^th May 2021. The matters discussed included the association’s corporate governance and financial matters, upcoming projects, and international relations, amongst others.