THE
DESTRUCTION OF THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT
What do
they have in common towards the history of the library of Alexandria in Egypt:
Julius Caesar, the Roman Emperor Aurelian, Pope Theophilus of Alexandria and
the Muslim Rashidun? The answer is: They all made attempts to damage the famous
library of Alexandria. Among them all,
Julius Caesar is the very person who is remembered in connection with the
famous library. The reason is his love affair with Cleopatra. The love story
between the twenty- one year old girl Cleopatra and Julius Caesar who was about
the age of fifty, has been a subject for many books and movies. The Roman
Emperor Aurelian is a man remembered only by scholars working with the history
of the Roman Empire but not a man known to most of us. The question asked by some
or taken for granted by historians, is the statement that the library was
destroyed by Julius Caesar only. The experts in the field of ancient history
have different opinions about the matter. Let me quote some of the statements about
the attempts to damage the library:
Christian
Meyer: Caesar. 1982.
” … He also
set fire to the Egyptian men of war in the harbour. The fire destroyed not only
the granaries and naval arsenals by the harbour, but Alexandria’s famous library;
More than four hundred thousand papyrus rools were burnt… ”.
The number
of destroyed papyrus rolls which have been reported by Christian Meyer is also
a number stated as a fact by the Major-General J.F. C. Fuller in his book:
Julius Caesar. Man, soldier, and tyrant. 1965.
”… so as to prevent Caesar from being supplied and reinforced, Achillas
planned to seize them(ships)… to prevent Achillas from seizing the Alexandrian
galleys, Caesar ordered them to be burnt. Swept by the wind, the flames ignited
the warehouses along the quays in which 400 000 books, apparently belonging
to the Library, perished …” In a note Fuller add further information to the
discussion about who destroyed the Library , ... “ The library was destroyed by
Amrou, Lieutenant of the Caliph Omar, in A.D 651...”
Was the
damage of the library an action of the military strategy of Julius Caesar or
was the event an accident made by the Roman soldiers only?
Tom Holland
is of the opinion that it was only an accident.” The Triumph and Tragedy of the
Roman Republic” is the title of a book written by Tom Hollland and published in
2003.
”… burning
the Egyptian fleet in the harbour, the bibliophile Caesar accidentally set fire
to the warehouses crammed with priceless books – or possibly the entire Library
of Alexandria, a disaster for which Christians and Muslims have been blamed…”.
The entire
library was burned down by Julius Caesar? The statement is not accepted by
other experts in the field of the history of the Library of Alexandria.
Philip Freeman
is dealing with the subject in his book: ” Julius Caesar. 2008.”
”… but his
troops acted with such haste that the fire soon spread beyond the ships to the
docks, warehouses, and uphill to the great Library. Scholars still argue
whether or not the fire completely destroyed this treasury of ancient
literature, but even if the flames consumed only a fraction of the scrolls, the
loss to scholarship remains immeasurable… “.
Adrian
Goldsworthy is not so sure that the damage of the library made by the soldiers
of Julius Caesar was of any importance for the activities of the library and
the collection of books.
The
Alexandian Museum and Library was a home to the greatest scholars of the age.
The museum was a research center for scientists and writers. Lectures were held
for students and visitors during the day in an impressive lecture hall. The
evenings were filled with dinners and drinking parties brimmed with learned
conversation and biting wit. The fire of the library did not put an end to the
social life of the library and to the work of scholars and students.
The
information published about the damage of the entire library was made by
Plutarchos in his book, ” Caesar ”, according to Peter Ørstad in his book: ”
Gaius Julius Cæsar- politikk og moral i det romerske imperium. 1998.”
Plutarchos
as a main source for the correct information about the damage of the library
has been doubted by more than Peter Ørstad. Allan Klynne is the author of the
book : ”Kleopatra. Liv och Legend ”.
2009.
He is sceptical about the information given by Plutarchos about the total
damage of the library. Let me quote from his book written in Swedish about the
issue:
” … Att också biblioteket i Alexandria med sina 700 000
bokruller blev lågornas rov vid det har tilfallet ar en missuppfatning, som går
tillbake till Plutarchos. Det handlade snarare om 40 000 bokrullar, som av
någon anledning låg instuvade i magasinen nere i hamnen, kanske i vantan på
transport till Rom. Biblioteket fanns kvar nar Strabon besøkte Alexandria några
decennier efter branden, och verksamheten fortsatte av alt att døma annu flera
sekler in i vår tiderakning…”.
The damage
of the library is also a matter of concern for the Australian author, Collen
McCullough.
A reconstructed,
fictional, conversation between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra about the library
and the burning of the books is to be found in her book: ” The October Horse ”. 2002.
The author is supporting the opinion of the misunderstanding of information of
the library published by Plutarchos.
The
fictional conversation between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra is worth being
quoted:
” … Oh, the
book repository has gone!” she cried, wringing her hands, very distressed. ” There
is no catalogue; we’ll never know what
burned!”….” But the library is in the museum,” he said, ” and the museum is perfectly safe.”…. ” Yes,
but the librarians are so slow that the books come in far faster than they can
be catalogued, so for the last hundred years they’ve been piling up in a
special warehouse.It’s gone!”…” How many books are there in the museum?” he
asked…” Almost a million”.
Julius
Caesar let her know how he wants to solve the problems of getting copies of the
burned books.
The famous
Swedish historian, Carl Gustav Grimberg (1875-1941), gives his personal
contribution to the misleading information about the damage of the library in
his books about the history of the world, Vardshistoria. The Norwegian title
is: Menneskenes liv og historie. The fire and the damage of the library are
dealt with in book number 5, on page 270. ”… during the fight …Caesar had set
fire to the Egyptian fleet … buildings were set on fire and among them, the
famous library…”
Julius
Caesar was a man of letter. He was well- educated. Did the damage of the
Library of Alexandra influence his policy of education and studies in Rome
later on? When he returned to Rome, he made plans to set up a huge public
library in Rome contenting the best Greek and Latin works.
THE ROMAN
EMPEROR AURELINA AND THE DAMAGED OF THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA
The Roman
Emperor Aurelina( AD 270- 275) had to suppress a revolt by the Egyptian Queen
Zenobia of Palmyra who ruled Egypt from AD 269 – 274. During the fighting, the
Royal Quater of Alexandria was burned to ground. The library was situated in
the section of the city which was destroyed by the soldiers of Aurelian. It is
assumed that the library was damaged even if the scholars are not quite sure
about the result of the burning of the buildings.
POPE
THEOPHILUS OF ALEXANDRIA AND THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA
The Great
Library, the Library of Alexandria, or the Royal Alexandrian Library was set up
in different buildings in the city. The library of the Serapeum Temple was one
of the libraries connected to the famous library. The Serapeum housed books of
the Great Library. Theophilus of Alexandria was a Coptic Pope. Paganism was
made illegal by an edict of the Emperor Theodosius I in AD 391. The temples of
Alexandria were closed by Patriarch Teophilus of Alexandra in AD 440. The
scholars have different opinions about how many books that were destroyed.
MUSLIM
CONQUEST OF EGYPT AND THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA
Alexandria
was captured by the Muslim army of Amir ibn al`Aas in AD 642. Abd`l Latif of
Baghdad (1162 – 1231) has made a statement that the library was destroyed by
Amr, by order of the Caliph Omar. The
experts on ancient history differ in opinions about the matter.
The mean
reason to add the above mentioned persons is to the list of those who might
have contributed to the destruction of the library, is to act in defence of
Juilus Caesar. He was not the only one who made actions which resulted in the
destruction of the library.
INTERNATIONAL
ATTENTION AND INFORMATION ABOUT THE LIBRARY
The
international attention to the burning of the Library of Alexandria is still a
matter of concern to many scholars and librarians worldwide . With reference to
the literature quoted the conclusion of the matter is that the burning of the
books was done due to an accident, an uncontrolled fire, and not a part of the
military strategy of Julius Caesar to occupy the state of Egypt. The
information of the damage of the library is based on misunderstanding , lack
of critical studies of sources and
misinterpretations of facts – and above all: We are all seduced by the performance of the
love story between two historical personalites who are very concious of their
power: The enigmatic queen of Egypt, Cleopatra and the Roman general, Julius
Caesar.
THE DAMAGE
OF THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA ON MOVIES
Caesar and
Cleopatra, is a British film released in 1945. The film was adapted from the
play, Caesar and Cleopatra, written by George
Bernard Shaw. The damage of the
library is highlighted in the film.
The movie ” Cleopatra” was released in 1963 contenting accusations against Julius Caesar for having commited a
cultural crime destroying the Library of Alexandra.
Two movies-
released in 1945 and 1963- are paying attention to the fire and destruction of the
library. Research work done on the sources for the screenplays of the films
shows that the stories are based upon studies of histories by Plutarch and
Suentonius among other ancient sources. Not all scholars and authors who have written
books about the event do agree that the library was burnt down.
Lucius
Mesterius Plutarchus was a Greek historian, biographer and essayist who is
known for the work of two books: ”
Parallel Lives” and ” Moralia”. He lived from 46AD to 120AD.
The
information about the fire and the total damage of the library has been
pulished by the release of the films mentioned.
In year
2002 a new movie about Julius Caesar was released. The film is a TV mini-series
about the life of Julius Caesar from 82BC to his death in 44 BC. The actor
Jeremy Sisto is portraying Julius Caesar, Samuela Sardo as Cleopatra and Jay
Rodan is portraying Mark Antony. Does the film, Juluis Caesar, contents any new
information about the reasons for the damaging of the famous Library of
Alexendra? The answer is: No.The dramatic event is not mentioned at all! On the
official list of historical inaccusacies of the movie, the fire and the
destruction of the library is missing.
The movie: ” Rome ” (TV series) was released during 2005 to 2007. The event of the burning
of the Library of Alexandria is not a subject of the film. The library is not
mentioned at all.
The
question whether the Royal Alexandrian Library was burnt and destroyed might be
a result of a misinterpretation of two Greek words: Bibliothecas and
Bibliothea?
Bibliothecas
means , ” set of books”, while Bibliothea means ” library”.
PROTECTION
OF CULTURAL PROPERTY IN THE EVENT OF ARMED CONFLICT
In
international laws, the determination to protect artistic and cultural heritage
appeared in 16th and 17th centuries onward. In ancient times, the right to ” spoils of war” of the victor was associated
with the destruction of cultural property remaining on the conquered site.
What about
armed conflicts of the 20th century and year 2014?
It is not
the task of this paper to evaluate all international laws introduced to protect
cultural properties, libraries, memorial sites, radio – and television
companies and informations tools like newspapers and films.
On May 14,
1954, in The Netherlands, in the city of Hague, the Hague Convention for the
Protection of Cultural Property in Event of Armed Conflicts was signed. The law
entered into force August 7, 1956 .
In year
2014 the law was signed by 126 states.
THE SECOND
WORLD WAR AND THE KOREAN WAR
The Second
World War and the Korean War have been selected as objects of further researchs
about the military strategies in armed conflicts resulting in the destructions
of libraries, burning of books and the damage of public information tools like
radio, television, movies, photos and memorial sites.
The
question has to be asked again: Was the damage of public libraries during the
WWII and the Korean War a result of accidents that took place during the
fightings or was the damage a strategy decided by the generals before the
fighting started?
LIBRARIES
DAMAGED DURING WORLD WAR II
An
incomplete report of libraries which were damaged has been published. The list
is including the following countries: Belgium, China, Czechoslovakia, France,
Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Soviet
Union and United Kingdom.
Those
countries on the list which have reported the total damage of a certain library
have been selected for the presentation.
Belgium:
Public Library of Tournay, China: Institute of Technology of He-pei, Tien
–chin, Medical College of He-pei, Pao-ting, Czechoslovakia: Library of the
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Ancient library of Jan Hodejovsky, France:
Municipal Library of Beauvais, The University and the Municipal Libraries of
Caen, The Municipal Library of Dieppe, The Library of the Societe Commerciale
in Le Havre and The Tours Municipal Library, Germany: Library of the Reichtag,
Poland: Raczynski Library,Serbia: The National Library of Serbia in Belgrade,
United Kingdom: The Central Library of Coventry and The Central Lending Library
of Liverpool.
Additional
information about the lost of books and manuscrips:
Italy:
About 2 millon printed works and 39,000 manuscripts are reported lost,
Czechoslovakia: The total losses of books, manuscrips and incunabula are estimated
at 2,000,000 volumes, Germany: About a third of books in German libraries were
reported lost, Poland: About 15 million volumes were lost at a total 22, 5
million volumes available,
The Hague
Convention of 1907 went largely unobserved as the Nazis engaged in wide-scale
looting and cultural plunder. The Russians generals reprised the destruction of
cultural sites on the Eastern Front by reclaiming and appropriating German ” trophy art ”. The American military leaders
wanted to play a vital role in preserving the cultural heritage of Europe
despite an active participation of firebombing of German cities and the total
destruction the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy in 1944.
Cultural
property officers were employed by the American and the British armies to
locate and to preserve buildings and movable art threatened during the
conflict.
THE MOVIE:
THE MONUMENTS MEN
” …about 3
million books were saved … ” according to a statement made in the movie : ” The
Monuments Men ”. The movie was released
in 2014. The film follows an Allied group tasked with finding and saving pieces
of art and culturally important items during the WWII. George Clooney has
directed the film.
The problem
for any officer, who is taking part in the fighting, is to decide when his
soldiers are an object of threat from the enemy. When a sniper is located in
action in a building of great historical importance, it is not an easy task to
protect the building. He has to stop the work of the sniper.
During the
battle of Seoul in the Korean War, the buildings had to go if snipers were
discovered in action in a building. The whole building was blown up.
In the
documentary : ” Korea War: The forgotten war(1996) ”, an Armerican sergeantt is
interviewed about his personal experience during the war. Jim ”JC” McKee is his
name. The American attack on the city of Seoul is a subject of his story. ”…
The marines blow up the buildings. We were quite destructive…” He is referring
to the street fighting of Seoul where snipers had hidden themselves in
buildings. The city of Seoul was more or less destroyed during the different
attacks on the city.
THE SUPREME
ALLIED COMMANDER OF THE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE(SHAEF):DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
: COMMENTS ABOUT MILITARY CONCEPTS WITH REFERENCE TO PROTECTION OF CULTURAL
HERITAGE
What is the
meaning of the concepts of: ” Military
necessity ”, or ” military convenience ” and ” personal convenience” with reference to actions decided by the
commanding officer during the battle?
In the
movie: ” IKE: CONTERDOWN TO D-DAY( 2004)
”, a fictional conversation between the British Prime Minister Winston S.
Churchill and the American general Dwight D. Eisenhower takes place. The main
issue of the talk is the strategy to win the war. Dwight D. Eiserhower reveals
his critical attitude to the British destruction of old German cities as a tool
to win the war.The British Cabinet had agreed to the policy of ” area bombing”
of German cities in 1942. Dwight d. Eisenhower wanted to begin with combined
operations demanding a close cooperation between the air force, the marine and
the army. Selfish generals who were advocates for a strategy set up with
priority of their own soldiers or air planes or battleships, were not wanted to
fight the war. The critical comments to the bombing of old German cities
described in the movie, is an information about the wish to protect the
cultural heritage of Europe.
Area
bombing of German cities and of factories in the occupied France went on till
the end of the war. Critical questions have been asked about the main reason
for the bombing of Dresden in 1945. Was the city of Dresden a defined military
target or was the attack initiated to destroy the German moral only? The
bombing of Dresden by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States
Army Air Forces (USAAF) took place between February 13 to 15, 1945. The
decision of bombing the city was a controversial issue in 1945. The event is
still a matter of discussion among historians.
The city of
Dresden after the bombing of the city in 1945.
Even if Dwight
D. Eiserhower is portrayed as critical to the British policy of ” area bombing ” in the movie ” IKE.
CONTERDOWN TO D-DAY”, the order of bombing Dresden came from the British Prime
Minister, Winston S. Churchill and the US Allied Commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The main
reason for the bombing of Dresden was military targets and a wish to support
the Russians according to statements made in the movie : ” Dresden:The Inferno ( 2006)”.
The
Norwegian title of the movie is: ”
Dresden- tredje rikets siste dager ”.
The
destruction of cultural sites is accepted from a military point of view
provided that they have been identified as military objectives.
It is not
an easy task for an officer who is active making quick descions while the
fighting is going on, to see the difference between, ” Military necessity ”,
and ” personal convenience”. It is matter of life or death for him and his
soliders.
The Allied
decided to bomb the old monastery at the top of Monte Cassino, close to Rome,Italy,
in 1944. The monastery was set up in year 524. German soldiers had been seen at
the site. Therefor the attack was made. The battle went on from January 17 to
May 18, 1944. About 55000 Allied soldiers were lost. The German army lost about
20000 soldiers. The monastery was completely damaged. The German soldiers had
moved the cultural treasures which were stored in the monastery to a safe place
before the battle of Monte Cassino started.
The
monastery was rebuilt after the war.
Dwight D.
Eisenhower ( 1890 – 1969) was elected the 3th President of United States (
1953-1961).
”… Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re
going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and
read every book…” Statements made after the war by :
-Dwight D.
Eisenhower-
THE RULES
OF WAR AND INFORMATION ABOUT THE RULES FOR NORWEGIAN SOLDIERS IN YEAR 2014
The Norwegian
newspaper: ” Klassekampen ”, has published an alarming report made by the Red
Cross about the standard of information of the rules of war given to Norwegian
soldiers in year 2014.
About 63
per cent have answered that they knew little about the rules of war. The
general secretary of the Red Cross in Norway, Åse Havnelid , is worried about
the revealing result of the report.
THE POLICY
FOR ETERNAL LIFE OF ORIGINAL MATERIAL STORED IN AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVES AND SOME
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE COLLECTIONS IN TIMES OF WAR OR ARMED
CONFLICTS.
THE POLICY
OF THE PROTECTION OF THE ORIGINAL TAPES AND FILMS AND SOUND TRACKS
If you want
to set up a plan for the audiovisual collections aiming at an eternal life for
the tapes, films and sound recordings, the aim is too ambitious. From a technical
point of view, there is no eternal life for your collections. Television
programmes produced on different types of tapes are fading . The duration of
the material is very limited. We do not know the date and the exact year for
the final use of the products. But the fight is going on every day, every year
to postpone the damage of the materials stored in the archives because it is a
matter of protection of the audiovisual heritage of thenation. The matter and
the fight are a political issue. Storage
policy of the materials is an important policy for any audiovisual archive. In
some countries like Barbados, the establishment of a stable storage system is
crucial for the future of the archive. It does not make sense spending time and
money on making the best system for access to the content of the collections if
the materials wanted are gone due to lack of good storage conditions.
OLD
TAPES-OLD FILMS-STORAGE REQUIREMENTS
Original
materials like old tapes, old films and sound recordings and soundtracks cannot
be stored in buildings and rooms where the temperture and the relative humidity
do not satisfy the recommended standards for the storage. In times of wars and
armed conflicts the old tapes must be moved to sites where the materials will
be protected.
Tapes must
be stored in rooms where the temperature is about 16C+/-2, (50 - 60F). The
relative humidity must be about 30 – 40 per cent.
Films must
be stored in rooms where the temperature is about -5C (23F) and the relative
humidity is about 15 – 30 per cent.
The lower the
temperature of the room is the slower is the fading process.
If the films,
the shots, have to be used daily for production reasons, the recommendations
for the storage are: Temperature: 21C (70f) and the relative humidity of the
room must show about 25 – 60 per cent.
The storage
standard recommended by the former head of the film archive of the Swedish Film
Institute, Jon Wengstrøm, differ some from the standard mentioned. He is
recommending -6C with the relative humidity of 35 per cent for films and for
viewing films: +6C with the relative humidity of 35 per cent.
FIAT/IFTA –
BROADCAST ARCHIVES – RECOMMENDATIONS
For
endangered broadcasting archives, FIAT/IFTA is recommending the following
storage conditions:
Storage
conditions for film: 12c with 30 per cent relative humidity. Storage conditions
for video: 18c with 35 per cent relative humidity.
Separate
storage rooms for film and video.
VINEGAR
SYNDROME
Films
affected by the vinegar syndrome: Separate storage from the rest of the
collections and separate conditions for films and sound tapes in plastic bags.
An official
plan to save the original materials in an armed conflict or in times of war must
be set up by the government of the country. It is too late to search for a site
to put the materials when the war is on.
In some
mountainous countries like Norway, old caves and old mining industries closed
have been recommended for the storage of both books, tapes and films if the
minings have been rebuilt for the new purposes with reference to the required
standard for temperture and humidity.
THE
NORWEGIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (NRK)-ORIGINAL MATERIALS
NRK has forwarded
original materials to the National Archive/Library situated in Mo i Rana in the
northern part of Norway without any demand for a permanent long term storage of
the materials. The official agreement between Nrk and the National Library is
limited to access of the content of the tapes and films produced by NRK. This
means that a lot of the old two inch tapes have been wiped with permission of
NRK due to the fact that no viewing machines for the two inch tapes are in
production any more or for sale in the open market. The question to the
National Library is: What about original materials on films, sound recordings,
written documents, old books? No value at all? What about the storage of the
only copies of programmes stored on VHS cassettes? The viewing machines for the
tapes are out of production a long time ago.
SWEDEN –
GRANGESBERG – STORAGE OF PRIVATE FILMS
In year
2005, February 8, I went to Grangesberg in Sweden. Grangesberg is situated in
Ludvika Municipality in Dalarna County. The purpose of the visit was to chair a
seminar for the archivists and librarians who were working with storage, preservation
and cataloguing of private films made by non professional filmmakers.The
National Library of Sweden is responsible for the facility since 2011.The
archival film collection is housing the Swedish peoples’ cultural history as
expressed via the film media. Grangesberg was a mining town.The town was
dominated by iron-ore extraction at Grangesberg ore field. The mining industry
was closed in 1990. But the minings could be used for storage of old films. In
times of war, caves and minings situated close to cities should be rebuilt to
store audiovisual materials like old two inch tapes , one inch tapes, films of
different types and sound recordings. The recommended standards for the
tempertaure and relative humidity for long term storage of audiovisual
materials must not be neglected.
LONG TERM
STORAGE- STORAGE CONDITIONS RECOMMENTED
The
standard recommendation for long term storage is: The temperture and the
relative humidity of the rooms must be stable all the time – no radical and
quick changes during the year due to bad weather conditions must take place. Respect
and concern for the importance of the films are important as an official policy
of any film archive. Feature movies made by Ingmar Bergman and 16mm films made
by unknown producers, must get the same respect and treatment of the staff of
the archive.
THE
OFFICIAL APPROACH OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS TOWARDS THE DAMAGE OF
CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE NATION IN TIMES OF WAR AND ARMED CONFLICTS
The following
international associations have been contacted about the offical policy of the
assocation towards destructions of libraries, audiovisual heritage, monuments,
books, old tapes , films and historical buildings.
-AMIA:
Association of Moving Image Archivists
-The
International Federation of Televison Archives (FIAT/IFTA)
-International
Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA)
-International
Federation of Film Archives (FIAF)
-International
Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
-International
Council on Archives (ICA)
Personal
attitude and expectations regarding the work of the listed associations in the
field of support to libraries damaged due to armed conflicts were negative. My
experience as board member of FIAT/IFTA from year 1990, President,
vice-president, general secretary and chairman of commissions was not a
positive experience dealing with issues that might be classified as political
issues. The board had critical talks about the selection of countries for the
annual conference of the federation. We approach any country with a non
political evaluation because the federation is a non political organization. We
did not evaluate the official politics of the country with regard to whether
the government was chairing a liberal, conservative, sosialist or communist
politics. We had talks about the South Africa and the Apartheid politics and
about neo fascists groups working in Austria. Even if we disagree with the official
politics of the country, we set up the annual conference with regards to the
work of the audiovisual archives done in the country.
The main
question to be asked to-day with reference to the selection of countries wanted
to host the annual conference, is the official policy to support the libraries
and the archives and the members of the association. If the members dislike the
lack of support of the libraries in fields like freedom of speech, freedom of
information, human rights, an active policy of censurship chaired by the
government, lack of relaiable content of information in the archives, any
international association should make official statement to protect the aim and
the values of the association.
Let me put
in in this way: The content of the audiovisual archives is a source for future
research, studies, education, television and radio productions and for personal
development as a citizen in a society where you have to make decisions in
different fields all the time. Censurship in any form is the first step to the
destruction of the society. The value and the content of the archives are
jeapardizing. You cannot trust the facts you get from the library because the
government has a wish to control the facts. This is my private opinions about
the development of the content of audiovisual archives only.
WHAT ABOUT
THE POLICY OF THE INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATIONS CONTACTED IN YEAR 2014?
My approach
to the issue of the work of the international associations in the fields
mentioned was not a positive approach. Was my negative assumption to the work
of the international associations a correct one in year 2014? The answer is:
No. My negative attitude and opinions need a correction. The year is 2014 – not
2000. Changes have taken place.
FIAT/IFTA
Let me
begin with FIAT/IFTA: The year 2012 is a historical year for the federation
because of the bold changes of the work of the new board of the federation.
” SAVE YOUR
ARCHIVE”
” Save your
Archive ” is a program launched at the 2012 world conference in London. A fund
has been set up aimed at safeguarding audiovisual archives that suffered from
damage because of wars, armed conflicts, and other actions. Financial support
will be provided annually to small number of well defined projects, focused on
preservation, digitalization and valorization of archival content.
Support may
include professional advice, equipment, training as well as direct funding. The
program is part of FIAT/IFTA core mission to serve the archival community and
to promote coopertaion among the members. The initiative is shared with UNESCO
and within Cordinating Council of Audiovisual Archive Associations (CCAAA)
joint actions and developed regarding the project.
IFLA
International
Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) have created a risk
register for documentary heritage. The draft questionnaire for the risk
register has been forwarded CCAAA for evaluation.
AMIA
AMIA is an
affiliated organization within the United States Committe of the Blue Shield
(USCBS). AMIA has been involved since its formation. Through our work with
Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archive Associations (CCAAA), AMIA have
regular contact with the international council of the Blue Shield.
IASA
IASA is a
member of CCAAA where matters concerning the damage of archives worldwide will
be dealt with. CCAAA is a member of Blue Shield. The board of IASA has not made
any policy statement of the matters in the field of damaging of archives due to
political and armed conflicts. The task of IASA would be raise awareness and
motivate institutions and individuals to be active in their country. The national
Blue Shield organisations are working in many countries. An official
recommendation to join the nation Blue Shield organisation within countries,
who are member of IASA, is a goal. The organisation of the practice of disaster
preparation and recovery is a national matter or a regional matter.
CO-ORDINATING
COUNCIL OF AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVES ASSOCIATIONS (CCAAA)
CCAAA is
aiming at ” … the recognition of the audiovisual heritage as part of the
world’s cultural and documentary heritage…” and
is also focusing on the issue ” …
the audiovisual heritage is an endangered
part of the cultura land documentary heritage …”.
The members
of CCAAA are:
ARSC:
Association for Recorded Sound Collections.
AMIA:
Association of Moving Image Archivists.
IASA:
International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives.
FIAF:
International Federation of Film Archives .
ICA:
International Council of Archives.
FIAT/IFTA:
International Federation of Television Archives.
IFLA:
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.
SEAPAVAA:
Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association.
FOCAL:
Federation of Commercial Audiovisual Archives.
With
referance to the aims of CCAAA, issues of destructions of libraries and
cultural institutions made during an armed conflict should be of great interest
for the board of CCAAA. Official statements should be made and published as a
part of the work of CCAAA.
CONCLUSION
The latest
information about the work of international association in the field of
protecting libraries, cultural treasures, audiovisual heritage, historical
sites, is positive news. The tools used are set up for those who want to fight
for values of great importance to any society: Access to reliable information,
preservation of the audivisual heritage, historical sites and buildings and
above all: Financial support to those libraries that have problems in keeping
up the standard because of the damage of the sites done during an armed
conflict.
The Syrian
Civil War – also known as ” The Syrian Uprising ” has lasted for at least three
years. Reports of destructions of cultural heritage are published in newspapers
worldwide. About 200 000 items of
cultural importance have been moved to a safe site. UNESCO is informed about
the tragic situation in the country. Historical sites are reported damaged by
the fighting forces. UNESCO has already made public statements to stop the
damage of historical monuments. International Council on Monuments and Sites
(ICOMOS) in France is worried about the development in Syria. The Syrian-French
archaeologist and Secretary General of ICOMOS, Samir Abdulac, have made
statements about the situation in Syrian.
What about
the board of CCAAA?
The
challenge for the boards of FIAT/IFTA, AMIA, FIAF, IFLA, ICA is the use of the
tools set up for an international cooperation to protect the value of the
libraries and any other information body – and finally: What about the fight
for the content of the information bodies with referance to the freedom of
speech, freedom of information, human rights and the fight against any form of
censurship forced on the libraries and the librarians? What about the robbery
of cultural heritage in Syria of year 2014?
Tedd Urnes
Teddview
Audiovisual Archival Management (TAAM)
August 7,
2014
The
conference was official opened on September 18 by the President of BAAC, Zane
Grosa, and the Head of the National Library of Latvia, Andris Vilks
The last
presenter of Session 1 was left to Marika Koha from Estonia. She reported about
the work with Estonian audio cassettes and digital archive Diger in the
National Library of Estonia (NLE). About 2100 commercially published audio
cassettes related to Estonia are stored in NLE. The digitalisation of the
cassettes was launched at the beginning of 2009. From 2013 sound files of
digitized audio cassettes are put into Digar, the new digital archive.
The first
presenter of Session 2 came from Estonia too. Digital projects at Estonian Film
Archives was the main subject for the paper presented by Gerli Rebane, consultant
from Estonian Film Archives.
