‘It’s Your Story, Don’t Lose It’ – Using Sound And Image Heritage to Bridge Cultures (original) (raw)
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Reconfiguring the Audiovisual Heritage: Lessons from Nigeria
The Moving Image: The Journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists, Vol. 21, No. 1-2, Spring-Fall, 55-76., 2021
In the current debate about restitution, which primarily evolves around archaeological and ethnographical collections in Europe, the question of the audiovisual heritage of the Global South opens up the next frontier. This question has three aspects, which we want to discuss taking sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria as our focus. First, if we stipulate, as is now common in anthropology, an “ethical imperative for digital return of collections of field recordings to their communities of origin", then how does this imperative apply to historical films held in the Global North, and how can we think of audiovisual heritage in the context of a broader push to decolonize the archive? Second, if we understand that those parts of the audiovisual heritage that are not stored away in the Global North are scattered about in public and private archives across the region, where they are under threat from decay, particularly celluloid-native films from the period between the end of colonial occupation and the millennium, then how can we secure the long-term survival of these cultural and historically important films? And third, if we consider that countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and India are now major producers and poles in a “new world order of cultural production,” with the various regional Nigerian film industries alone producing more than one thousand feature-length video-and digital-native films per year, how can this new and accumulating film heritage be preserved? In this article, we want to argue that to answer these questions requires practical solutions and policy initiatives but also a radical rethinking of the conceptual frameworks of audiovisual heritage policy and practice in the Global North as well as the Global South.
The Challenges of Archiving Audio Visual Heritages in Northern Nigeria
Archiving Conference, 2019
This paper attempts to show case the challenges militating against the establishment, funding and promotion of audiovisual archiving collections held by different government institutions in Northern Nigeria. The rationale of such attempt rests on the observation that although audiovisual materials constitute vital information resource in such institutions, they are often not adequately managed after their creation. The paper also identifies the major constraints and limitations of audiovisual materials found in the public sectors, media houses and the challenges in their management. This serves as an important mechanism for raising general awareness on the audiovisual materials and on the need to preserve and safeguard such materials for future generations, as a means of making them accessible to the public. The paper shows that many of the problems related to the management of such materials in the country emanate from, such us national policy on preservation and conservation, lack of trained personnel in the management of audiovisual materials, technological challenges, inadequate storage facilities and the perception by users that audiovisual materials are not as valuable as records in other formats. The paper proffer strategies for dealing with the challenges of preserving and improving the use of audiovisual materials in Nigeria.
International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) Journal
This article examines the processes through which the J.H. Kwabena Nketia Archives has struggled to build a sustainable model for audio-visual archiving within an African university and looks to how its contents may serve future students and scholars in an effort to locate African cultural materials and knowledge production in Africa. The archive, operated within the University of Ghana’s Institute of African Studies, was named in honor of Professor Nketia in 2015 and is the realization of over six decades of gathering audio and visual data, acquiring new collections, conducting research, and preservation efforts. The core collection of quarter-inch reels were recorded by Nketia in the early decades of his extensive career shaping Ghana’s cultural policy, building teaching and research institutions, and studying music, culture, and language in Africa. As a part of the University of Ghana, the Nketia Archives provide a valuable resource for local students and scholars and creates a s...
Collection and Curation, 2020
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges related to the management and preservation of audio-visual (AV) records and/or archives in archival institutions in Sub Saharan Africa and suggests strategies for resolving them. Design/methodology/approach This study is qualitative in nature and used content analysis from desk top review of literature to identify the challenges and suggested solutions. Findings Among others, the study revealed that budgetary constraints, poor environmental controls, ill-equipped staff and technological obsolescence are the major challenges hampering the efforts of archival institutions in Sub Saharan Africa to manage and preserve AV archives. Research limitations/implications The contextual differences due to existing political set ups in archival agencies in Sub Saharan Africa may or may not be receptive to some of the strategies suggested for the improvement of managing and preserving audio visual archives. Practical implications The pap...
Preservation of audio-visual archives in Zambia
ESARBICA Journal: Journal of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives, 2021
Audio-visual records and archives constitute a fundamental heritage that satisfies multiple needs, including education, training, research and entertainment. As such, there is a need to appropriately preserve and conserve them so they can be accessed for as long as they are needed. In spite of their significant role in safeguarding cultural heritage, audio-visual records and archives, are often neglected and accorded less attention than paper-based records, especially in developing countries. Hence, there is a risk of losing information held in audio-visual form. That is why this study looked at how the National Archives of Zambia (NAZ) and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) preserve audio-visual materials to ensure long-term accessibility of the information. The study investigated the types of audio-visual collections held, the storage equipment used, measures put in place to ensure long-term accessibility of audio-visual materials, the disaster preparedness plans ...
Exhibiting intangible heritage in a museum: the Voices of Africa experience
Nordic Journal of African Studies, 2016
Museums are places for education, but they can also offer opportunities for cross-cultural discovery. With a focus on enhancing the impact of our own research, this paper describes the experience of mounting an exhibition at the Musee d’Ethnographie de Bordeaux on the theme Voices of Africa. The aim of this exhibition was to investigate the social, cultural and political aspects of language – oral and written – on the African continent. But how is it possible to display the intangible in a museum exhibition? It poses a real challenge because it requires not only finding ways of exhibiting language itself, but also making visitors feel its impact by associating sound, imagery and objects. How could we share with the public our concerns about the various and complex ways that contemporary African societies have of understanding, organizing, preserving and enhancing language, that most intangible of all aspects of cultural heritage? In these times of identity politics and political ten...