NEWS ROUND-UP

 

 

A Future for the Past … from page 1

 

ASEAN represented in

Joint IASA-SEAPAVAA

Conference in Singapore

        For the first time, ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information (ASEAN-COCI) will be represented in an international gathering of audiovisual archivists and practitioners during the “Joint IASA-SEAPAVAA Conference” which will be held in Singapore from July 3-7, 2000.

        Ten participants from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam were selected as ASEAN-COCI participants to the conference.

        During the last ASEAN-COCI Meeting held in Yangon, Myanmar, April 3-7, 2000, ASEAN-COCI agreed to sponsor one participant from each of the ASEAN member-countries to attend the conference on a cost-sharing basis with the sending institution: i.e., ASEAN-COCI to sponsor the registration fee of the participants and the sending institution to sponsor the participant’s travel expenses.

        SEAPAVAA looks forward to ASEAN-COCI’s continuing support of its projects and activities, and its future conferences.

 

needs of the Audio-visual collection when construction of the Centre is completed in four to five years.

·          Acquisition and Management

·          Digital Restoration and Archiving

·          Access

·          Singapore Session

·          Strategic Issues

 

        At the Welcome Cocktail on July 3, SEAPAVAA will launch it's book, Film in South East Asia, Views from the Region, the first SEAPAVAA-sponsored book which attempts to bring some sense of the film history, culture, and the film industries in the countries of the region.

        There will also be exhibits and tradeshow vendors during the Conference in which a number of film and video equipment suppliers will present their latest products geared for audiovisual archiving.

 

Visits to museums, broadcasting, and AV archiving institutions in Singapore have been scheduled to give participants the opportunity to know more about the host country.

        The Conference promises a rewarding and enjoyable five-day experience and will be an opportunity for the members of each association to become familiar with the work of the other countries or associations as well as allow interaction among the attendees with opportunities to exchange information and share ideas. All together, the Conference will be a crossing of boundaries -- both temporal and cultural. It is hoped that those who will be present will look back on the Conference as one historic moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Archives of Malaysia… from page 6

 

materials are still in the hands of the private sector and much remains to be done to get them into the custody of the Archives. As part of its acquisition strategy, the National Archives has sought assistance from private organizations in its attempt to build up the film holdings. A recent meeting with representatives from the Film Producers Association has brought about positive results and the National Archives is presently drawing up the terms and conditions for the deposit of the master negatives of feature films produced by local film producers.

        Acquisition of film materials and bringing them into the safe custody of the Archives is only one aspect of

 

the program to preserve the national film heritage. Storage and restoration facilities have to be considered as well, so as to meet these needs. To meet these requirements, the Government in 1999 has approved the establishment of the Documentation and Preservation Centre for Audio-visual Materials, to be administered by the National Archives of Malaysia. The National Archives is now on a fact-finding mission to draw up specifications for the building of the Centre, which will be constructed on part of the 12.5 hectare land bank adjoining the present Archives building. The National Archives will be in a better position to cater to the specialized

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Port Moresby… from page 5

 

 

have been very successful in implementing controlled storage for video tape material at minimum cost. Still, many of the participating organizations need additional funding to solve their maintenance woes.

        Unfortunately, the Fiji workshop was cut short by events surrounding the civil unrest resulting from George Speight's coup last May. The FBC studios were not considered to be secure under the circumstances, and participants involved in local media had to prioritize

 

coverage of important local events over completion of the workshop. Despite this, the workshop did achieve the majority of objectives, including significant recommendations for improving acquisition of broadcast radio material into archives, and improving management of audiovisual records in collections at the SPC and Fiji Museum.

        In Papua New Guinea, the workshop concluded with a formal ceremony attended by NBC management and the Director of

 

Information of the Ministry of Information. The participants presented management with an action plan developed in the course of the workshop with recommendations for improving the security, storage and accessibility of the NBC audio collection. A highlight was the speech by Fred Ume on behalf of the workshop group in which he gave eloquent voice to the importance of maintaining the stories and history contained in the broadcast archives of PNG.

-Matthew Davies

 

Page 10 – AV Archives Bulletin

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January-June 2000