World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is an UNESCO International Day, celebrated annually on the 27th of October.
Antarctic Legacy of South Africa is committed to building a comprehensive (open access) archive that includes the archiving of audiovisual material gathered through the South African National Antarctic Programme. The videos and interviews on the ALSA archive give an insight into what it takes to work within the Antarctic programme and the lived experiences of those involved in the programme.
According to the UNESCO website:
Audiovisual archives tell us stories about people’s lives and cultures from all over the world. They represent a priceless heritage which is an affirmation of our collective memory and a valuable source of knowledge since they reflect the cultural, social and linguistic diversity of our communities. They help us grow and comprehend the world we all share. Conserving this heritage and ensuring it remains accessible to the public and future generations is a vital goal for all memory institutions as well as the public at large”.
The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage (WDAH) is a commemoration of the adoption, in 1980 by the 21st General Conference, of the Recommendation for the Safeguarding and Preservation of Moving Images. The World Day provides an occasion to raise general awareness of the need to take urgent measures and to acknowledge the importance of audiovisual documents.
WDAH’s celebrations in 2022
The 2022 World Day for Audiovisual Heritage will be celebrated in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Memory of the World Programme. The celebration will take place from 27 October to 5 November 2022, under the theme “Enlisting documentary heritage to promote inclusive, just and peaceful societies”. Taking its cue from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, documentary heritage, as an information resource, lends itself both to the “public access to information” component of Target of 16.10 of SDG 16 and its “fundamental freedoms” component. With respect to the theme of the celebration, while the question of ensuring universal access to documentary heritage remains a foundational concern, there is a strong focus on how documentary heritage can be used to promote inclusive, just and peaceful societies.
Check out the Interviews and Videos on the ALSA Archive.
More videos and interviews on the ALSA YouTube Chanel (click on the icon below)!
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 27 October 2022
Please ignore PDF below!
