"This meeting is very important because audiovisual archives continue to experience the threat of damage, both due to weather, temperature, humidity, and lack of awareness," ANRI head Imam Gunarto said at the 28th SEAPAVAA 2024 Conference.
He emphasized the importance of preserving these archives, highlighting the vast collection of historical treasures stored in scattered audiovisual materials.
"Audiovisual archives serve as a record of a nation's journey," he remarked. "Our goal is to ensure the preservation of all audiovisual archives and to guarantee public access to them."
The conference drew hundreds of participants, including representatives from 21 countries.
"This gathering brings together the entire audiovisual archive management community, encompassing not only government institutions but also individuals," Gunarto explained.
During the event, the ruler of the Mangkunegaran Palace, the 10th Adipati Mangkunegara, emphasized the importance of fostering connections among participants to facilitate knowledge and resource sharing.
"This is the key for us to be able to learn from each other and complement existing data to form more holistic knowledge," he added.
He expressed his gratitude to the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (NISV) for providing an audiovisual archive of a dance performance in the Netherlands in 1937, featuring his ancestor, Gusti Nurul.
"Therefore, I am very happy to be a part of this collaboration," he said.
ANRI and NISV also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) focused on fostering cooperation in the field of audiovisual archives.
The MoU builds upon the Cultural Cooperation Agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands signed in Jakarta on July 7, 1968.
The agreed areas of cooperation include the exchange of digital inventories and metadata of historical audiovisual archives and collections for educational and historical purposes. Additionally, the MoU paves the way for joint exhibitions and publications of audiovisual archives from both countries.
Furthermore, the cooperation covers the exchange of knowledge on media literacy and digital inclusion, as well as the joint nomination of audiovisual documentary heritage in the International Memory of the World Register.
The cooperation also includes capacity building in the field of management of audiovisual archives and collections and other possible collaborations, as well as obtaining written agreements between ANRI and NISV.
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Translator: Aris Wasita, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Anton Santoso
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