On 9 June 2023, ICA held an on-site event at the Musée des Archives Nationales in Paris, France, to celebrate its 75th anniversary (#75YearsICA). This event featured a roundtable titled “The changing role of archives in an information society over the last 75 years”. The roundtable was moderated by Alice Grippon, Deputy Director of the Vitam Programme, in charge of Communication and Partnerships, and included the following panelists:
Jean-Charles Bedague, Deputy Director of Communication and Promotion of Archives at the interministerial service of the Archives de France
Basma Makhlouf Shabou, Director of the Master’s degree in Information Science and Coordinator of Archiving Studies at the Geneva School of Business at the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland
Adama Pam, Director of UNESCO Archives and Libraries
For those who were not able to join us on that day, we would like to invite you to read the summary that we have prepared of this event with some of the thoughts and comments shared by our guests. The celebration of our anniversary is still ongoing with the call for volunteers to take over our Instagram account and with the invitation to share your archives and contribute to the ICA Timeline. We also expect to meet a good number of ICA members at our upcoming ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023 to close off this important year.
We would like to again thank our partner, the National Archives of France, and our sponsor, FamilySearch, who made this on-site event possible.
Introduction
An introduction was given by Carlos Serrano Vásquez, Executive Director of the ICA. He thanked our partner, the National Archives of France, and our sponsor, FamilySearch. He then handed the floor over to Bruno Ricard, Director of the National Archives of France, who welcomed everyone and shared some history about the location, the hôtel de Soubise, and the long history of the National Archives of France in that location, as well as in collaboration with the ICA.
“On the occasion of this anniversary, I wish the ICA a future as great and as radiant as the one it has left behind. These missions are fundamental in our contemporary societies, to spread throughout the world the culture of the archive, of its necessity, as much for writing history as for administering organizations and demonstrating the rights of citizens.”
The panel looks on as Bruno Ricard, Director of the National Archives of France, gives introductory remarks during ICA’s roundtable, held on 9 June 2023.
This was followed by a warm welcome from Josée Kirps, President of the ICA. She talked about how this celebration was meant to highlight the work of the ICA over the last 75 years and all the work of archival professionals from around the world. She also thanked UNESCO, the National Archives of France, the ICA Secretariat and ICA’s Executive Director, Carlos Serrano Vásquez.
“The ICA is recognized as the most important forum for professionals, institutions and industries involved in archives, records and information management. ICA’s strength lies in the passion and expertise of its members, and in its multiculturalism. In effect, a strong archival community. The collaboration between archivists and records managers from all over the world is an important asset and a precious gift.”
Josée Kirps, President of the ICA, provides introductory remarks, at ICA’s roundtable, held on 9 June 2023.
Roundtable
The moderator of the roundtable, Alice Grippon, Deputy Director of the Vitam Programme, in charge of Communication and Partnerships, introduced the topic, “The changing role of archives in an information society over the last 75 years”, as well as the three panelists, before handing things over to the first speaker, Adama Pam, Director of UNESCO Archives and Libraries. Adama Pam introduced his presentation in the following way:
“For the presentation, I’d like to talk a little about the role of the Community of Archivists. How are archivists organised internationally? Have issues of access to archives arisen in relation to pressure groups, in relation to invisible communities, in relation to the digital revolution? How have we moved from an archive of scarcity to an archive of abundance? How have all these questions been addressed? But there are also issues relating to archives and human rights. It is an essential question that is being asked more and more about the use of archives to address human rights issues, not just from the point of view of access or from the point of view of the rights of access that are proclaimed in the texts, but also in the process of repairing societies that have been damaged by violent conflict.”
Adama Pam, Director of UNESCO Archives and Libraries, speaks during the ICA’s roundtable titled “The changing role of archives in an information society over the last 75 years”, held on 9 June 2023.
His presentation was followed by a response from Basma Makhlouf Shabou, Director of the Master’s degree in Information Science and Coordinator of Archiving Studies at the Geneva School of Business at the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland. She highlighted the evolutions in archival training and the importance of processes and methodologies.
The next speaker, Jean-Charles Bedague, Deputy Director of Communication and Promotion of Archives at the interministerial service of the Archives de France, shared that the celebration of this kind of anniversary invites us to confront our contemporary experience by thinking about the challenges that were face by our predecessors 75 years ago. He did so by speaking about Charles Braibant, who was the Director of the National Archives of France from 1948 to 1959, and the President of the ICA from 1950 to 1954. He highlighted 8 dates that he felt corresponded to 8 contemporary challenges.
Jean-Charles Bedague, Deputy Director of Communication and Promotion of Archives at the interministerial service of the Archives de France, speaks during the ICA roundtable, held on 9 June 2023.
Some members of the audience, as well as the members of the panel, responded to the presentation by Jean-Charles Bedague, adding other relevant dates that they felt should be highlighted in the examination of this history. Alice Grippon then posed some questions to the panel and the audience, on the topics of the evolution of the role of archives, interdisciplinarity, and how the ICA can help archivists face these evolutions in the role of archives, all of which led to some lively discussions.
Audience members participated in the ICA’s roundtable discussion, held on 9 June 2023.
Conclusion
Carlos Serrano Vásquez concluded the roundtable by thanking all of the speakers and participants, and by inviting everyone to join us for a photo and a cocktail.
All of the guests who gathered in person to celebrate the ICA’s 75thTanniversary at the National Archives of France on 9 June 2023.
See more photos from the event, including the cocktail by clicking here.
Watch the entire roundtable (in French) here