Sunday Times 2
SAARC International Conference on Development of Archives in South Asia
Coming together with the aim of protecting the cultural future of South Asia, the SAARC Cultural Centre, in collaboration with the Department of National Archives, Sri Lanka will hold the SAARC International Conference on Development of Archives from December 3-5. Titled “The Future of Archives and Archives of the Future” the conference will look at the long term management of archives of Sri Lanka and South Asia as a whole.
The news conference. Pic by Susantha Liyanawatte
Addressing a news conference on November 27, Director, SAARC Cultural Centre G.L.W. Samarasinghe, Director General, Department of National Archives Dr. Saroja Wettasinghe along with Dr Sanjay Garg, Deputy Director, Archives India introduced the subject of archive conservation along with the issues they face.
A hot topic of conversation was the current state of the national archives and challenges the department is facing in terms of preserving them. Elaborating on the process of preservation using digital technology, Dr. Saroja spoke on an issue of concern which is the endurance of the quality of digital archives, as digital technology can sometimes cause more harm to materials such as film. Other questions that the panel will look into surround the process of digital archiving.
Giving a brief introduction on the Department of Archives, Dr. Saroja traced the beginnings of archiving in Sri Lanka to as far back as the 17th century. “We have records from as far as 1640,” she stated. Having been established as the Department of Government Archivists in 1947, the department, has since been “the curator of the cultural identity of Sri Lanka” she explained.
The SAARC Cultural Centre shares a similar view. Speaking at the news conference Dr. Sanjay Garg emphasised the importance of archives, calling them the “memory of the nation”. “At a national level, it serves as a national memory” he added.