Theme: Audiovisual Archiving: Empowerment Towards the Year 2000
Jakarta, Indonesia
Flanked by palm trees and flowers in Jakarta, the National Library of Indonesia occupies a stately restored Dutch colonial mansion linked to a high-rise, striking a harmonious architectural combination, formed the backdrop of the 1997 conference.
SEAPAVAA’s second annual conference was held in Jakarta from March 17 to 21, at the National Library auditorium. Joining the library as hosts were the Indonesian Department of Information, National Archives of Indonesia, and Sinematek Indonesia. The conference was officially opened by Mr. Dewabrata Kobarshjih, Director-General of the Department of Information of Indonesia.
Twenty-six delegates and nine observers from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam attended the conference.
The conference theme was “Audiovisual Archiving: Empowerment Towards the Year 2000”. A key objective of the gathering was the formation and adoption of SEAPAVAA’s first three-year strategic plan to develop AV archiving in the region. The conference program included an ideas program, strategic planning workshops, visits to member-institutions in Jakarta, committee meetings, crash course in Indonesian film history, general assembly, and social programs in the evening.
A special event during the week was the presentation of SEAPAVAA’s first Life Achievement Award to Misbach Biran, pioneering film archivist, founder and Director of Sinematek Indonesia. For more than twenty years, Misbach has stood for the cause of film preservation worked tirelessly, with limited resources, to establish his country’s first film archive.
During the conference week, a phrase which emerged and found ready acceptance was the “spirit of SEAPAVAA”. It encapsulates the sense of unity and mutual affirmation in a shared mission which was palpable to everyone present.