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SEAPAVAA ANNUAL CONFERENCES
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2004
2005
Conference Report
2002 SEAPAVAA ANNUAL
CONFERENCE
Theme: Mapping
Tomorrow: A Reality Check for the Archives
Vientiane,
Laos
The
SEAPAVAA conference in 2002 was held in Laos from May 13 to 17 and
hosted by the Lao National Film Archive and Video Center. About one
hundred delegates gathered in Vientiane at the Lane Xang Hotel, on the
banks f the fabled Mekong River. They cam from all ten ASEAN countries
as well as from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Cook Islands, USA,
Canada, Britain, and Croatia.
The
conference symposium explored the theme "Mapping tomorrow: A Reality
Check for Archives", with the delegated making institutional visits to
the Lao National Television and Radio, National Museum, and National
Library, as well as to the host archive. One particular point of
interest was the Archive of Traditional Music, house within the
National library, which holds the audio and video collection
documenting Lao's rich cultural heritage of music and dance.
With
the exception of the gathering held jointly with IASA (International
Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archvies) in Singapore in 2000 ,
the annual activity was the largest SEAPAVAA conference then.
FIAT (International Federation of Television Archives) was represented
by the head of its Training Commission, Branko Bubenik, IASA by its
President, Crispin Jewitt, and AMIA (Association of Moving Image
Archivists) by JoAnn Watson, representing President Sam Kula. Sam's
keynote address, delivered by JoAnn, was a reflection on the rapidly
changing international landscape of our profession.
A
feature of the symposium was a segment on "dreams and visions".
Several archives were asked to visualize the "ideal" archival
situation in their country, if they could be freed from present
budgetary and other constraints. The visions they presented were the
highlight of the conference. There was a logical conclusion drawn from
this: no matter what the present situation, it is crucial to have a
vision of what might be in the best of all possible worlds. It
puts present realities and specific future goals in perspective. And
it was realized that sometimes dreams do come true.
The
formal opening and closing ceremonies of the conference were presided
senior dignitaries from the Cultural Ministry of the Lao People's
Democratic republic. The social occasions introduces visitors to Lao
music and dance.
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