Botswana: Botswana National Archives and Records Services commemorated World Day of Audiovisual Heritage yesterday morning at an event held at Gaborone Records Center yesterday. The day was commemorated under the theme “Your Window To The World”.
When giving a keynote address, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Library, Archives, Arts and Culture) in the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tebogo Matebesi, said archives and records services play an important role in helping one to know their origin and history of their forefathers.
He alluded that creatives play a very critical role in making our national language attractive. “Artists such as Han C Amantle Brown have made Setswana feel fashionable. If we do not document of the transition, if we do not capture those in video and audio, our future people will never know,” said Matebesi.
Matebesi added that collaborations with different stakeholders play a key role in making sure archives are safely stored and preserved. “I know you have been going out capturing cultural heritage recordings, but let’s run faster and capture a lot of what is happening”.
For her part, the Director of National Services of Zimbabwe, Brenda Mamvura, said days like World Day of Audiovisual Heritage Commemoration are an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the role of the film industry in capturing historical moments.
She added that the 4th industrial revolution era forces archive and records center to reconsider analogue scenarios to leveraging ICTs for enhanced service delivery.
“Digitization is the way to go if we are to survive as an archival institution; digitizing our film collection to formats readable by computers is now a matter of urgency”, said Mamvura.
Entertainment was by the KTM Choral Choir and a poet, Kopanang Tito. Makwakwa traditional song and dance group also gave a stellar performance by keeping archivists and attendees entertained.