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UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage [click here to listen] 

by Janet Ceja
 

October 27, 2007 marks the first annual United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.  Twenty seven years ago on October 27th 1980 UNESCO’s General Conference first adopted the “Recommendation for the safeguarding and preservation of moving images” and in 2005 the proclamation of a World Day for Audiovisual heritage was approved.

 

In honor of AV world heritage day UNESCO Director General Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, stated:

On this, the first celebration of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, I call upon governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to give audiovisual heritage the recognition it deserves, and more than that, the resources so essential to its preservation. Only by doing so will we be able to ensure that future generations can enjoy the legacy that is still within our grasp.

The vast production of AV analog media created in the last century is overwhelming and with the ever growing AV digital creations of the present it is worth asking what these types of media productions mean to us at a local, national and international level. Ten years from now do you want your Youtube video to be preserved as a part of your country’s audiovisual heritage? Can you still play your old video home movies from 1989? What happens to history when natural disasters, war, media obsolescence and other factors destroy audiovisual collections? Have you thought of archiving your own personal media productions and if so, what does this mean to the audiovisual archivist of the 21st century?

 

Thailand was the first nation to celebrate the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. The National Film Archives, the Thai Antique Phonograph and Gramophone Society, TV Channel 7, and the Public Relations Department all worked together to build public awareness of the importance of preserving audiovisual material and the need to continue to push forward efforts as digital content comes more and more into daily use. Along with Thailand, Canada, Catalonia, the autonomous community of Spain, Croatia, Finland, France, Norway, the Philippines, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America participated in organizing events for the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. For more information please see the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Association website at www.ccaaa.org

 

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