Conference Agenda

This paper explores the private archives of the Kgosi Bathoen II in Botswana.The collection highlights how traditional forms of communication and documentation interconnect with modern practices to create a dynamic social archive. It reflects the traditions, values and social structures of Botswana’s society ensuring that the identities are preserved. The findings reveal how private archives transcend official institutional culture and serve as instruments for societal connection and cohesion.

Private archives play a pivotal role in preserving the cultural heritage and collective memory of societies. These archives, often maintained by individuals, families and private organisations, form part of a nation’s documentary heritage. Their importance underscores the need for initiatives that promotes their preservation and integration into broader archival practices. This paper explores the private archives of the Kgosi Bathoen II, a prominent traditional leader of the Bangwaketse tribe in Botswana, examining their role in preserving identity in the context of evolving archival practices. Drawing from ethnographic research and archival analysis, this paper highlights how traditional forms of communication within a community and documentation interconnect with modern practices to create a dynamic social archive. By examining Bathoen II’s private collections, this paper underscores the significance of archives in fostering individual, tribal and nation identities. Bathoen II’s private archive reflect the traditions, values and social structures of Botswana’s society ensuring that the identities are preserved for future generations. The findings reveal how private archives not only transcend official institutional culture but also serve as instruments for societal connection and cohesion. This paper contributes to the discourse on the evolving role of archives in African societies and their potential to bridge the past and the future.

The paper describes the affective (emotional) and the personal impact of independent community archives in Poland on different people involved in them, based on qualitative interviews with e.g. community archivists. The paper discusses: the Polish landscape of community archives and studies on them; the research process; results from a minority archive and a local community archive; challenges of studying the impact of archives.

The paper reports partial results of the research project “The impact of independent community archives” funded by the National Science Center in Krakow, Poland (grant no. 2022/47/D/HS3/00914; 2023-2026). The aim of the project is to describe the social and affective impact of Polish independent community archives on their creators, contributors, audiences, and the community they document. The goal of the project is achieved through 3 in-depth case studies of contemporary independent archives. The primary source of information is qualitative interviews with people associated with the archives, particularly community archivists.

The paper addresses especially the affective (emotional) impact and personal impact. The citation used in the title, 'It's my fourth child', comes from one of the interviewees (a mother of three) and shows an interesting way of describing archivist's personal and affective involvement in the archive.

The project utilizes a broad understanding of the affective impact, as “a culturally, socially and historically constructed category that both encompasses and reaches beyond feelings and emotions” (Cifor 2016, p 10). Observed examples of this impact include, for example, feeling secondary trauma; the burden of archival tasks; anxiety and fear; disappointment; a sense of mission; trust and distrust; joy and satisfaction.

Personal impact, on the other hand, is the changes that occur in a person under the influence of interaction with a community archive, which are not necessarily emotional in nature. Examples of this type of impact include, for example: increased knowledge and skills in archivists; the therapeutic role of participation in the creation of the archive; pursuit of passions/interests; new interpersonal contacts; change in personal attitude toward something/someone.

The project is an important part of the narrative on the impact of archives (and heritage institutions in general) on people - not, however, in terms of monetary or historical/scholarly value, but precisely taking into account the intangible and difficult to grasp emotional and personal impact.

The presentation will include: a discussion of previous research on community archives in Poland and the Polish context in which this phenomenon occurs; a description of the research process; results - the influences found in two Polish community archives studied so far (a minority archive and a local archive); reflections on the challenges of studying the affective and personal impact of archives.

Cifor M, ‘Affecting Relations: Introducing Affect Theory to Archival Discourse’, Archival Science, vol. 16, no. 1, March 2016, pp. 7-13.

Employing the Ghanaian Akan idea of sankofa (“go back and get it”) as its conceptual framing, the paper examines the transformative potential that (learning from) past documentary practices of African and African diasporic communities could have in decentralizing archival practices. The paper argues that such an outlook cues us to community-led initiatives, citizen archivists, and other praxis that shape or create more representative archival futures.

As archival practitioners - especially across Africa and its diaspora and the wider global south - navigate systems of erasure and systemic loss as well as our interconnected future, it is vital to recognize and incorporate diverse methods of preserving memories, identities, and cultural material from local contexts.

Our proposal for the 2025 ICA Congress aligns with the theme “Managing Memories, Preserving Identities” by exploring how decentralizing archival practices can foster more inclusive methods of preserving memories. Adopting the Akan sankofa concept as our analytical lens, and using examples from African and African diasporic communities, we examine the intersection of traditional documentary practices and evolving technologies to propose a reimagined archival framework.

Key discussion points include:

1. De-Centering Colonial Documentary Practices: Exploring archival-like traditions, such as oral histories, symbolic cloth designs, festivals, and communal storytelling, to understand their role in preservation and records management. This can inform more inclusive and equitable archival futures. The study highlights examples of modern-day community-driven archival activities, analyzing their cultural significance, evolution through technological advances, and their contributions to collective memory.

2. Contemporary Innovations: We assess how digital tools and emerging technologies transform traditional community-based documentation, enabling broader access and enhancing preservation methods.

3. Decentralization and Equity: Highlighting the importance of community archivists and citizen archivists in addressing historical exclusions and fostering equitable archival futures. Our discussion positions these practices as essential tools for addressing the gaps in traditional archival systems, ensuring that historically minoritized voices are preserved and valued. By bridging past and present methods, we propose a reimagined framework that interconnects cultural heritage, emerging digital technologies, and the lived realities of underrepresented communities.

This collaborative paper highlights the transformative potential of engaging communities as active participants in creating, curating, and preserving their histories. By synthesizing historical insights with contemporary archival challenges, we aim to foster a dynamic, inclusive global archival landscape that honors the diverse ways memories and identities are managed and preserved.

Over fifteen years since Shannon Faulkhead raised the question of how communities might function as archives calling for a reimagining of archival practice the field has yet to fully embrace this transformative vision. The call to rethink the fundamental nature of archives, explore the concept of Indigenous Living Archives on Country remains as pressing and significant today as it was when first articulated. These combined papers highlight the research/practice nexus drawing on lived experience

Drawing on organisational case studies, academic and community research we propose to present a paper that reimagines archives and participatory archival practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. Building on the foundational research carried out by Shannon Faulkhead, this paper learns from the past and gives examples of cross disciplinary projects centred on the premise of ‘Nothing About Us, Without Us’. Being mindful of Henrietta Fourmile’s seminal paper “Who owns the past? Aborigines as captives of the archives, ‘It is absolutely essential that we have our own historical resources located in our own communities for ready access to assist elders in their recollections of their history’ (Fourmile, 1989). Applying new technologies to create, return and support Living Archives on Country.

Thorpe draws inspiration from Alison Krebs' vision of archives as yarning spaces, and proposes reimagining archives as sites of meaningful dialogue and reciprocal knowledge exchange (Krebs, 2012). This approach centres Indigenous protocols and methodologies, offering a pathway for transforming archival practices to support Indigenous sovereignty, cultural continuity, and healing.

Through case studies James will discuss how Indigenous communities are reclaiming and repatriating cultural heritage materials, promoting self-determination, and embedding Indigenous knowledges into archival processes. Central to this discussion is the movement to decolonise and Indigenise archival systems, which involves integrating Indigenous cultural protocols, language, and ways of knowing within collections.

Timbery will share a model of Living Digital Archives and principles underpinned by Thorpe’s concept of Archival sovereignty and a strengths based community process grounded in respectful relationships.

Faulkhead will bring together the projects and practices that have progressed both archival science and practice.

References

Fourmile, H. (1989). Who owns the past? Aborigines as captives of the archives. Aboriginal History, 1-8. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/ielapa.041060789676104

Krebs, A. B. (2012). Native America’s twenty-first-century right to know. Archival Science, 12, 173-190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-011-9161-2