Endangered archives blog

News about the projects saving vulnerable material from around the world

1 posts from January 2025

23 January 2025

Celebrating 20 Years of EAP: Highlights from the 2024 Conference

On 31 October and 1 November 2024, the Endangered Archives Programme and the British Library’s International Office hosted the conference Timeless Archives, Timely Connections: Preserving Endangered Documentary Heritage and Inspiring Collaboration. This milestone event marked 20 years of EAP’s achievements in safeguarding documentary heritage and fostering global collaboration.

Hisham Matar standing by the podium and giving his speech

Love writing: Why do we write when in love? — Hisham Matar

Speakers Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún, Jane Winters, and Hisham Matar led thought-provoking discussions that brought together archivists, cultural heritage professionals and researchers from around the world. The first day started with an “EAP project in focus” session, which was given by Henny Ziai and Kholood Khair who discussed the importance of the Abdallah Bey Hamza collection, a Sudanese trader’s archive. The subsequent sessions tackled critical themes such as funding opportunities, the impact of climate change, conflict and hidden costs of digitisation. Conference posters further highlighted inspiring case studies in preservation and skills exchange.

Henny Ziai and Kholood Khair discussing their EAP project

EAP project in focus: The Abdallah Bey Hamza collection (a Sudanese trader’s archive) — Kholood Khair (R), Henny Ziai (L)

For those unable to attend, recordings from the conference are now available via the British Library's digital repository. The British Library Research Repository is an open access repository for research produced by staff and research associates. All presentations are listed on the "Timeless Archives, Timely Connections: Preserving Endangered Documentary Heritage and Inspiring Collaboration" page and users can view materials in the browser by clicking 'View Files in Viewer' at the top of the page or download them directly via the 'Actions' column. 

The climate threat panel

Climate crisis and the growing threat to archives — Stephanie Grant (L), Wanjiru Koinange (C), Andrea Richards (on screen) and Helen Vincent (R)

Protecting culture during conflict panel

Protecting culture during conflict — Dagnija Baltiņa (R), Rachel Deblinger (L), Hana Sleiman (on screen) and Peter Stone (C)

Hidden costs of digitisation

Hidden costs of digitisation: What you need to know — Michael Ballbach (CR), Tom Holland (L), Fu’ad Lawal (on screen), Christopher Ohge (R) and Maureen Pennock (CL)

We hope you will enjoy listening to the conference recordings; they are just as good as having been there in person!

Below is the full programme for the two days with the individual links to each recording. For more details of the sessions and the biographies of the speakers please clink on this link.

Welcome, Day 1 — Robin Janvrin 

Oratures, technology, and the intangible heritage of memory — Kọĺá Túbọs̀ún

Introduction to EAP — Sam van Schaik

EAP project in focus: The Abdallah Bey Hamza collection (a Sudanese trader’s archive) — Kholood Khair, Hengameh (Henny) Ziai

Who gets the funding? Reflecting on 20 years of EAP’s International Advisory Panel — Anthea Case (Chair), Simon Franklin, Mulaika Hijjas, Rajeev Kinra, Caterina Pizzigoni

From ‘digital dark age’ to ‘an age of historical abundance’ – or somewhere in between? The present and future state of born—digital cultural heritage – Jane Winters

Understanding the differences among funding and strategic approaches — Gala-Alexa Amagat, Marianne Deraze, Ruth Hansford, Marcie Hopkins (Chair) and Dian Kuswandini

International skills exchange: Lessons learnt and what’s next — Tamara Alattiya, Romana Delaporte, Buhle Mbambo-Thata (Chair) and Nikolas Sarris

Closing remarks, Day 1 — Arthur Dudney

1 November

Welcome, Day 2 — Tom Holland

Love writing: Why do we write when in love? — Hisham Matar

Climate crisis and the growing threat to archives — Stephanie Grant, Wanjiru Koinange, Andrea Richards and Helen Vincent (Chair)

Attempted takeover of the Khalidi Library — Raja Khalidi

Protecting culture during conflict — Dagnija Baltiņa, Rachel Deblinger (Chair), Nadiya Khalak, Hana Sleiman and Peter Stone

Preserving documentary heritage to reconstruct life histories of enslaved people — Remi Graves, Bonnie Greer (Chair), Albert Moore and Suzanne Schwarz

Hidden costs of digitisation: What you need to know — Michael Ballbach, Tom Holland (Chair), Fu’ad Lawal, Christopher Ohge and Maureen Pennock

Closing remarks, Day 2 — Marcie Hopkins

Networking

Chatting during a break Nikolas Sarris (L), Marcie Hopkins (C) and Tamara Alattiya (R)