India – North-East India Archive Conference
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25 July 2019

(ANS - Shillong) - On 19 and 20 July, the Salesian "St. Anthony College" of Shillong hosted a conference on archiving that brought together experts and specialists from across the North East of India. Organized by the Department of Mass Media of the Shillong Province (INS), the conference began with a presentation by the Institute's Principal, Salesian brother Albert L. Dkhar, and by Prof. Nathaniel N. Majaw, Project Director of the North East Archive, yet to be launched.

Also present was Yui Nakamura, Senior Program Officer of Japan's "Sasakawa Peace Foundation", who spoke about the role of her foundation in setting up the Archive of the North East of India.

The day continued with two thematic sessions: the first on the archiving of photographic materials, moderated by Fr John Jayakumar, SDB, founder of the Department for Mass Media of INS:also speaking was the Head of the Department of Cultural Studies and Creative University of the North East Mountains, prof. Desmond Kharmawphlang, on the importance of preserving and documenting the region's oral and cultural traditions; the second theme focused on the preservation and organization of film archives, with the presence, among others, of the well-known Indian filmmaker Dominic Sangma.

On the second day, the summit's activities began with a workshop on archiving audio and sound materials; and then continued with a round table on the storage of news and events and a conference on the value of history and archiving.

Also on the second day, the speakers' table featured no lack of prominent figures, such R.G. Lyngdoh, former Home Minister of the State of Meghalaya, writer and musician; and several expert journalists.

The two-day summit ended with the declaration of the "Charter of the North East India Archive" by prof. Nathaniel N. Majaw.

During the various sessions, the conference participants also expressed their concerns regarding “the digitization of archival material juxtaposed against the matter of information overload and cyber sabotage”; they examined questions such as “what constitutes endangered records and documents that could be given a top priority status in the archive”; and also addressed “the ethical, cultural and legal aspects of archiving”; discussions also explored the challenges of housing an archive with “unique, rare and specialized material in the physical as well as digitized format of record keeping.”

With the presence of eminent figures who contributed extensively with their skills, the two days represented an important moment towards the establishment of the North-East Indian Archive.

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ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication, the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007.

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