27 October
This year's Theme: Your Window to the World
The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage has become a key initiative for both the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA) to honour audiovisual preservation professionals and institutions that help to safeguard this heritage for future generations despite the many technical, political, social, financial, and other factors that threaten its survival. Audiovisual archives around the world join together annually on 27 October to celebrate their work with activities and events that not only highlight the vulnerability of this heritage but also celebrate the often unheralded work of the heritage institutions that protect it.
Discover: Each day hundreds of thousands of recordings are captured, preserved and annotated by archivists to enable search, discovery, new interpretations, uses and enjoyment of moving image and sound recordings. Celebrate the voyages of discovery made possible by your archive in your domain. Showcase and promote your mission and work.
Share: Digital media has created opportunities as never before for archives to connect directly with their publics, sharing and engaging with new audiences across digital platforms in ever new ways. Promote your shared archive events and celebrations with the archive community worldwide.
Remember: Audio-visual archives are a cornerstone of the memory of the world, with recordings that enable recall for future generations and give context to our shared history, culture and humanity for over a century. Promote a greater understanding of the unique role of audiovisual archives and the need for it to be safeguarded, preserved and protected as part of our world heritage.
The Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic exposed the urgent need for universal access to documentary heritage as a knowledge resource, particularly as memory institutions seek to reopen their doors to the public. Alongside this is the near lack of enabling policies for preserving and giving access to documentary heritage items.
