The 13th Conference of the Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association was held in two cities in Indonesia. Last May 15-20, 2009 the grand old city of Bandung and the vibrant capital city of Jakarta served as the meeting points of 124 delegates representing 14 different countries from the region and beyond. The conference was hosted by 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. Like previous years, the Conference was composed of a symposium, the annual general assembly, screening nights, workshops, cultural tours and institutional visits.
With the theme “Collection and Access Development: Two Sides of the Same Coin,” the conference in summary advanced the statement that continuing interaction and collaboration between individuals, institutions, governments, nations and regions is a key force in collection and access development of AV Archives during these troubled times.
The symbolical hosting of two cities, the dialogue between the archive community and its stakeholders, the discourse of the young and the aged, the meeting of east and west, the interaction between cultural tradition and technological advancement, the overlapping images and sound of what was, is and will be – all pointed out that indeed strengthening collaborations and bridging gaps is at heart of advancing the AV archiving community amidst socio-economic difficulties. As Chris Puplick in his Keynote Speech hoped for, the conference was able “to develop creative and collaborative solutions to issues plaguing the field” and “to discuss ways of working together to preserve and make accessible this extraordinary heritage” that the community devotes it’s life to.
The Symposium echoing such statements, as summarized in its closing synthesis panel, calls the AV Archiving community to reach out, include and dialogue with other stakeholders such as historians, academics, commercial entities, artists and the general public in its endeavors and strategic plans. It proposed that discourse must be elevated to transnational sensibilities and deal with related concerns of diaspora and cosmopolitanism while maximizing diversity and differences. That a free flow and exchange of information is a rich resource for archivists and archives. As such, any gaps and hindrances must be bridged and cleared out. And with the opening of archives and archivists to their stakeholders, to new sensibilities and to changing contexts/grounds, constant assessment and evaluation is called for.
The General Assembly concretized these statements by considering, moving and adopting collaborative plans and strategies as laid out in the Association’s Work Programme for 2009-2011. The Programme includes an extensive training and exchange program between NFSA and other SEAPAVAA member institutions, a strategic plan to extend reach and increase membership in underrepresented regions and countries, an evaluation and mapping of member archives to assist them in their development and an arrangement to maximize new media to increase access to valuable information and create space for exchange and dialogue.
Staying true to its tenets, SEAPAVAA held its annual conference workshop to develop archivists in the region. Mick Newnham was the director of this year’s training workshop that was attended by 85 participants. The workshop centered on the “Preservation of Audiovisual Collections.” Covering the basics and presenting current issues, Mick Newnham began by defining preservation and going over the identification of AV objects and identifying risks to these materials. The training also included modules on condition assessment & reporting and strategic preservation planning.
Delegates and guests were treated to two screening nights. The annual Archive Gem Screening Night featured clips from the collection of five member archives with a special tribute to Misbach, founder of Sinematek Indonesia. While the Indonesian Screening Night featured the film “Tamu Agung” by H Usmar Ismail. Participants went around Bandung for a cultural excursion while the institutional visits in ANRI, RCTI, and National Library of Indonesia was in Jakarta. Governor Ahmad Heryawan,Lc of West Java Provincial graciously hosted a grand dinner for the delegates as well at Gedung Sate in Bandung, while Djoko Utomo and ANRI capped the conference off with a special closing dinner in Jakarta.
Your can read in this site details of the conference summary and full report, symposium presentations/papers; conference photos will be available soon.
You can also contact the Secretariat at infoseapavaa@gmail.com for further info.