By DON NILES
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared 27 October to be celebrated every year as the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.
With this declaration, UNESCO has recognized that sound recordings and moving images in any form are vulnerable. They can be easily discarded, deliberately destroyed, or suffer because of storage or environmental factors. The machines of today may also not be able to play the media of the past or of tomorrow. Already much of the world's twentieth-century audiovisual heritage has been lost.
Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, has noted that "safeguarding audiovisual heritage is a very complex process requiring a range of legal, institutional, technical, and financial solutions. Not taking action will result in the loss of entire chapters of this heritage in less than ten years and lead to the irreparable impoverishment of human memory, culture and identity." Is this of any importance to Papua New Guinea? Very definitely!
Rev. William Lawes preaching in Motu at the end of the nineteenth century, traditional dance songs of Bogia which are no longer performed today, a film of the Amb Kor cult from Hagen, the ceremony of Papua New Guinea's independence, oral histories essential to determining the ownership of land, a Helgas music clip. Papua New Guinea's audiovisual heritage includes such diverse recordings. All play an essential role in illustrating aspects of our country.
A method of recording sound was only invented in 1877. In 1898, just twenty-one years later, the first sound recordings were made in Papua New Guinea. Also in the 1890s, the equipment to record and show moving images was developed. The first movies made in this country date from 1904. In both cases, new technologies were used here shortly after their development.
Papua New Guinea's audiovisual heritage has been growing for well over a century. Visitors made the first recordings, and then returned to their homelands with them. However, after World War II, the Australian Broadcasting Commission commenced radio broadcasts. Staff and district officers made recordings of traditional music and village choirs. These were probably the first recordings made in the country intended for use here, instead of overseas. Notable recordings include reports on the eruption of Mt. Lamington (1951) and the Manus dance performed to welcome the Duke of Edinburgh during his visit there in November 1956.
In addition to this local interest, overseas visitors continued to make recordings here. An ABC feature writer, Colin Simpson, visited in 1949 with a radio technician. Their recordings were released the following year as some of the country's first recordings offered for sale to the public. Less than thirty years later, the commercial recording industry began to take off locally, eventually becoming the important business it is today.
Also in the 1950s a number of missions explored the use of sound recordings to spread their teachings. Records were made in a number of local languages, but playback was difficult. This lead to the development of "finger-fones"-instead of requiring some form of electric power supply to turn the record, here it was turned with the finger.
The long and distinguished history of ethnographic and educational films in the country was supplemented after the beginning of broadcast television in 1987 to include such things as television programmes and music clips.
Papua New Guinea's audiovisual heritage is preserved in diverse locations: in the archives and libraries of national institutions, such as the National Film Institute, National Broadcasting Commission, Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, and school libraries; but also in commercial institutions, such as music recording studios and radio and television stations.
These audiovisual collections document past and present traditions of all kinds for us today and for the future. An important part of Papua New Guinea's history is found in such documents. The wisdom of our ancestors and the expressions of contemporary life can all be found and experienced in audiovisual archives. These are some of the true treasures of this country.
In his statement, the Director-General of UNESCO called upon "governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to give audiovisual heritage the recognition it deserves, and more than that, the resources so essential to its preservation. Only by doing so will we be able to ensure that future generations can enjoy the legacy that is still within our grasp."

The writer is the Director of the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies

 

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