New York, USA, 30 May 2023-/African Media Agency(AMA)/UNESCO has decided to inscribe 64 documentary collections in its “Memory of the World” register, bringing the total number of inscribed collections to 494.
“Documentary heritage is the common memory of humanity. It must be protected for research and shared with as many people as possible. It is a fundamental part of our collective history,” said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in a press release.
The “Memory of the World” programme, created by UNESCO in 1992, aims to prevent the irrevocable loss of documentary heritage – documents or collections of documents of significant and lasting value, whether on paper, audiovisual, digital or any other format. The program aims both to safeguard this heritage and to make it more accessible to the general public.
Listings restarted after 6 years
Registrations on the “Memory of the World” register had to be suspended in 2017, due to differences between States linked to the nomination process.
Significant collective work has made it possible to overhaul the procedure. Applications were relaunched in 2021. They resulted on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 in the unanimous decision of the UNESCO Executive Board to register sixty-four new documentary collections.
Documentary heritage is the common memory of humanity. It must be protected for research and shared with as many people as possible – Audrey Azoulay, head of UNESCO
“For the first time since 2017, new documentary collections have been entered in the ‘Memory of the World‘ register: this is a very positive signal. I salute the enthusiasm and the spirit of cooperation that have accompanied this process, with more than 20% of the inscriptions submitted jointly by several countries”, underlined the head of UNESCO, who thanked the Member States of UNESCO for their commitment and this renewed momentum in favor of the protection of the collective memory.
With these new additions, from 56 countries and organizations, the “Memory of the World” register now has 494 collections of documentary heritage from all regions of the world.
Saved on various materials ranging from stone to celluloid, from parchment to metal disk, this emblematic heritage of universal value is now preserved for future generations, like the illustrated and illuminated Persian manuscripts, from the architectural archives of Oscar Niemeyer or even manuscripts of Panji Tale.
New registrations this year
Among the 64 new collections registered this year are the complete works of the Sufi poet and philosopher Mawlana, jointly submitted by Germany, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tajikistan and Türkiye; the EMI Archive Trust’s records and sound records – over 100,000 recordings, covering music, urban and rural traditions and spoken word, from 1897 to 1914; or the archives of the first meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, submitted by Algeria, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Serbia.
Several collections contribute to learning from past events and promoting reconciliation, including those on the assimilation of Indigenous children, presented by Canada, the archives of the Nazi massacres of Babi Yar submitted by Ukraine, as well as as the film “Shoah” by Claude Lanzmann devoted to the Holocaust and its two hundred hours of archive footage, presented by France and Germany.
Three inscriptions relate to the memory of slavery: documents proposed jointly by France and Haiti, others jointly by Curaçao, the Netherlands, Saint-Martin and Suriname, and others by Mauritius.
Documentary heritage in danger around the world
In many parts of the world, documentary archives are under threat, especially in developing countries. Floods and fires have destroyed thousands of paper documents over the years, but audiovisual documents are also particularly fragile. Magnetic tapes are deteriorating and the machines used to read them are increasingly rare. A collective effort is needed to preserve and digitize this material, which may otherwise be lost forever.
Digitization and publication on the Internet make documentary heritage accessible to everyone, without the risk of damaging the original documents by exposing them physically. As this digitization is costly, UNESCO supports libraries, archives and museums, particularly in Africa, in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Sudan.
Over the past three decades, UNESCO has set up National Memory of the World Committees in 94 countries. Since the beginning of last year, the Organization has helped nearly 40 countries to develop public policies and develop the necessary capacities so that their documentary heritage can be inventoried, protected and made accessible to all.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) for UN Info.
Source : African Media Agency (AMA)