25 years of Archive
The activity arises from the pressing need for systematisation, cataloguing and respective indexation of the considerable assets and material and immaterial heritage that constitutes the documentary and audiovisual archive of the structure.
During these 25 years, EIRA has excelled by a careful annotation of its activity and of the works created, as well as of all the associated materials.
In the last two decades, the evolution of recording media has undergone a remarkable evolution and the materials where the activities and works of the structure were recorded at the time, have gone into evident decline and consequent disuse.
Highlight goes to those which are registered in perishable material and which must be recovered before they are irreparably degraded.
On the other hand, some of the ways of reading these supports are also discontinued and it is progressively more difficult to find devices still in operation that allow viewing.
We believe that it is professionally and artistically relevant that all the present assets can be made accessible, organized and in the appropriate digital media, benefiting the entire artistic, scientific, student community and any individual who is interested in it.
The achievement of this goal requires the pre-organization of the entire archive in paper and various video formats, the careful selection of content to be digitized, the operationalization of this process, the review of content, indexing key terms (and other relevant archival references) and the organization of all content in a logical and searchable way in digital storage media.
Finally, it will be necessary to communicate the existence of the archive, establish the rules of access, use and enjoyment, as well as to promote good research practices, together with a communication strategy that reaches the target audiences.
We are currently contemplating the first phase of the project, and its further development will take place in the future, hopefully in the context of the regular support that the structure has been receiving.