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   Keynote Address

Towards a new kind of archive? The digital philosophy in audiovisual archives
Edwin van Huis, cultural entrepreneur and former president of FIAT/IFTA, Netherlands

Too often we speak of the digital revolution in archives as a technical phenomenon. We want to see it as a new technology that demands changes in our operations but that fundamentally enables us to maintain our current norms and outlook on the use and position of archives. But that is a luxury we do not have. The change in technology comes with a change of paradigm; our society and the position of culture has transcended from a professional centered universe to a universe of content driven by laymen. This is of immense influence on all, sound archives, TV archives or film archives alike.

It is not the first paradigm shift in cultural history. But it is the first for AV archives, and that makes it difficult to adjust. What changes are necessary, what discussions are relevant, and what discussions are rearguard actions? These are the topics that will be covered in a speech that could be characterized as a receipt for change.

 

 

Short CV
Edwin J.F.B. van Huis (1958) is the Founder and Director of XPEX BV, a new firm that specialises in project management for the development of cultural and leisure experiences. Before that (1996-2008) he was the first General Director of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid) and president of FIAT/IFTA (2006-2008), the international organisation for TV archives and national AV archives. He also worked as Managing Director of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and for the Ministry of Culture in the Netherlands.
He is a Master of Science in Business Administration from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and a Master of Science in Biology from the University of Florida (USA) and the University of Utrecht.  Edwin has been awarded several honours including the Officer of the Order of Orange‐Nassau, by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (2008) and he has served in several leaderships positions in organization across Europe (e.g. Member of the United Kingdom's Screen Heritage Programme Group, Treasurer of the European Digital library Foundation (EDL), Member of the board of the European Archive etc)

  

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