„The one who evolves, endures.“
J. Rainis
BAAC annual conference (known already as Riga Seminar) this year takes place September 24-27 2008 in Tartu, the historical university town in the southern Estonia. The conference will be hosted by the Estonian Literary Museum and the Estonian National Museum.
This year the conference takes a look at the rapidly developing media and the changes it has brought to the audiovisual archives. The new media has turned our world from textual to audiovisual one. In order to ensure their continuous existence audiovisual archives have to change, accept new roles and acquire new skills. Changes have affected the social values, but have they also changed the value systems in the archives?
The topic gives us an opportunity to observe the problems of archiving ever altering forms of digital media, and coping with the constantly growing amount of resource materials.
An archive as a symbol of stability and continuity has to combine tradition with innovation. In developing new solutions and renewing the archiving criteria are the archives moulding their user or are the users shaping the archives?
The user expectations and the usage practices of audiovisual materials have certainly changed. How those changes have influenced the everyday archival work?
Will the analogue material be there only to serve as a guarantee of trust in the future of “intangible archives”? Audiovisual archives today have to preserve fading crafts to providing hi-tech access tomorrow. We hope to look into the digital future not neglecting our analogue heritage.
For survival archives should also look back to changes in the history, how the radical political changes and censorship have influenced their realm.
The conference language is English.
Please send abstracts of up to 400 words to: maarja@kirmus.ee
Deadline 11th of April 2008
The program committee will announce the results by the end of April.
The estimated conference fee will be 20 EUR.
Conference website: http://www.baacouncil.org/index.php?m=64