2024 World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

By John Coster, Founder of the Parallel Lives Network:

“The Parallel Lives Archive hosts documentary material from across the Global South sourced by the Documentary Media Centre, Conflict Memory Education Centre, and members of the Parallel Lives Network and the Independent Heritage Network. I’m proud to mark the World Day of Audiovisual Heritage and grateful to those who continue to support the archive”.

Text from the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Association website.

Every 27 October, audiovisual archives around the world commemorate the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. This day is a key initiative by UNESCO and the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA) to celebrate the work of archives while raising awareness of the importance and urgency of protecting audiovisual materials that will become lost if preservation is not taken or maintained.

Moving documentary heritage is an accessible storytelling that opens a window to the world. Generations of content producers derive inspiration and audiences can understand and appreciate the collective stories of beautiful imaginations, magical oral and aural recordings that travel across oceans and land, and fantastical creations that transfix sight and sound. They capture the depth, variety and rich inspiration of the human vision, ingenuity, and diversity.