Quezon City (25 October) -- Audio-visual archivists from ASEAN member countries, the Pacific and other parts of the world are gathering in Canberra on November 12-17 for a conference hosted jointly by the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia (NFSA) and the New Zealand Film Archive (NZFA). The conference marks the 10th anniversary of the South East Asia Pacific Audio-Visual Archives Association (SEAPAVAA).

A symposium on “The Visible Archives: Access, Advocacy and Accountability” will highlight the assembly. Other activities include a screening of film gems from the region’s archives; the launching of the SEAPAVAA-published book Lost films of Asia, authored by institutional members and edited by Mr. Nick de Ocampo; the debut of the traveling screening project “ Dawn of Cinema in Asia”, and institutional site visits and workshops.

Belina SB. Capul, SEAPAVAA president, said, “This year’s conference will be nostalgic, a journey back in time when in 1995, a group of archivists from ASEAN, Australia , and New Zealand first felt the urgent need to bond together to jointly address the issues of the profession. They pursued the idea one year later, the association was formed with NFSA as the guiding spirit.”

There are now 75 institutional and individual members from 22 countries from all over the world.

In an interview, Ray Edmondson, founding President of SEAPAVAA, said “we could not have anticipated what happened during the past 10 years. SEAPAVAA has made an invisible region visible. It has given it a voice in the global councils of the profession. It has brought recognition from UNESCO and has created a professional family which has enriched us all.”

After ten years of information sharing and project collaboration on various aspects of the profession, SEAPAVAA will now review the mission of successful archives and explore formulas for success, pitfalls and new ideas for the future, This is aptly reflected in this year’s conference theme.