2020 IASA - FIAT/IFTA Joint Conference

Drawing from discussions held at BRICS Audiovisual Preservation Meeting (Brazil, 09/2019) on the need to rethink the concept “collaborations”, the NYU Audiovisual Preservation Program (APEX) began a project to expand the network of shared knowledge with institutions beyond the US and Latin America,  seeking to generate specific actions and doable projects.

Due to COVID-19, we canceled a meeting planned for April 6/7. However, we held a virtual meeting with 14 international participants. In preparation for the meeting, APEX participants conducted a survey with specific questions on training, technological, and collaboration needed in Latin America. In addition to partial results, we also presented a summary of resources that Latin America may contribute to create more balanced ways to share. We reported on findings from 37 archival institutions across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Puerto Rico. We also learned about Latin American projects currently taking place at the Vulnerable Media Lab and York University (Canada), the Netherlands Institute of Sound and Image, and the Latin American Digital Preservation Network (RIPDASA).

Per common agreement, we have set a schedule to advance work in four areas: funding resources; webinar/training in situ; Twin Cities Archival project (following the model of Twin Cities) and circulation of collections. We also intend to complete the survey by including other Latin American and Caribbean basin countries and re-schedule the original meeting.

For this joint FIAT/IASA conference, we would like to provide a brief summary of NYU APEX cooperation philosophy; then we will offer a summary of our findings for this expansion project, the current status of the four projects we have started and specific coordinates to make this initiative extensive to interested international partners. We are open to another presentation type, except for poster presentations.