Timeless Archives, Timely Connections: Preserving Endangered Documentary Heritage and Inspiring Collaboration
This conference was held on 31 October – 1 November 2024 and was organised by EAP and the British Library’s International Office
31 October
Welcome, Day 1 — Robin Janvrin
Oratures, technology, and the intangible heritage of memory — Kọĺá Túbọs̀ún
Introduction to EAP — Sam van Schaik
EAP project in focus: The Abdallah Bey Hamza collection (a Sudanese trader’s archive) — Kholood Khair, Hengameh (Henny) Ziai
Who gets the funding? Reflecting on 20 years of EAP’s International Advisory Panel — Anthea Case (Chair), Simon Franklin, Mulaika Hijjas, Rajeev Kinra, Caterina Pizzigoni
Understanding the differences among funding and strategic approaches — Gala-Alexa Amagat, Marianne Deraze, Ruth Hansford, Marcie Hopkins (Chair) and Dian Kuswandini
International skills exchange: Lessons learnt and what’s next — Tamara Alattiya, Romana Delaporte, Buhle Mbambo-Thata (Chair) and Nikolas Sarris
Closing remarks, Day 1 — Arthur Dudney
1 November
Welcome, Day 2 — Tom Holland
Love writing: Why do we write when in love? — Hisham Matar
Climate crisis and the growing threat to archives — Stephanie Grant, Wanjiru Koinange, Andrea Richards and Helen Vincent (Chair)
Attempted takeover of the Khalidi Library — Raja Khalidi
Protecting culture during conflict — Dagnija Baltiņa, Rachel Deblinger (Chair), Nadiya Khalak, Hana Sleiman and Peter Stone
Preserving documentary heritage to reconstruct life histories of enslaved people — Remi Graves, Bonnie Greer (Chair), Albert Moore and Suzanne Schwarz
Hidden costs of digitisation: What you need to know — Michael Ballbach, Tom Holland (Chair), Fu’ad Lawal, Christopher Ohge and Maureen Pennock
Closing remarks, Day 2 — Marcie Hopkins
Link to the full EAP conference programme with speakers' biographies
Posters
Link to digital posters videos
Links to all posters:
UNESCO - International Centre for Documentary Heritage
The Southeast Asia Digital Library - Sustainability through Cooperation
Collective documenting in wartime Ukraine From tangible to cloud and back again
Archival Collaboration Peer-to-Peer Networking in a Small Island Repository
Reflections on heritage protection, challenges & emergency responses in Palestine
IFLA & Documentary Heritage - promoting inclusive, just and peaceful societies
Conservation for digitisation_ Islamic Manuscripts at the BLQFP
Modern Endangered Archives Program
International Dunhuang Programme
Background
Marking 20 years of the Endangered Archives Programme, the conference highlighted the Programme’s achievements and explored common themes and topics crucial to safeguarding documentary heritage and cultural legacy.
EAP facilitates the digitisation of archives around the world that are in danger of destruction, neglect or physical deterioration. Thanks to generous funding from Arcadia, a charitable foundation that works to preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge, EAP has provided grants to 500 projects in over ninety countries worldwide, in more than a hundred languages and scripts. These archives broaden understandings of our shared histories, enabling access to and connections between underrepresented yet transformative stories and perspectives.
Conference Goals
This international conference brought together many of the institutions, individuals and activists in documentary heritage preservation. There were sessions on EAP, preservation strategies from key organisations and funding opportunities, and the sharing of case studies of cultural heritage protection against risks caused by climate change, conflict or war. Attendees had the opportunity to engage with their peers on the most urgent and incipient challenges and opportunities in the field, including the costs of digitisation, designing strategic approaches, and the facilitation of creative responses to archives.
Target Audience
- Cultural heritage professionals
- Archivists and librarians
- Digitisation specialists
- Lecturers and students in archival studies/information science
- Historians
- NGOs
- Conservators
- Artists interested in working with documentary archives
- Individuals with a general interest in the topic
- Potential applicants to EAP: we particularly welcome attendance from people who have not previously received EAP funding and are interested in the Programme.
Themes
Endangered Archives Programme
Working together
- Peer organisation engagement
- Peer-to-peer networking
- Funding models and opportunities
Sharing knowledge, bringing stories back to life
- The use of archives in research
- Diversifying audiences
- User engagement
Threats
- Climate change
- War and conflict
- Cyber security
Preservation
- Preservation of physical archives
- Digitisation
Artificial intelligence
