Anguilla’s Documentary Heritage and the UNESCO Memory of the World Program were the topic of recent discussions at the Ministry of Tourism.
A series of meetings were convened by the Ministry with the newly established Memory of the World (MoW) Committee and visiting Archivist Mrs. Elizabeth Watson.
“Since Anguilla gained Associate Member status of UNESCO last November, the Island now has direct access to the UNESCO programmes including the Memory of the World Program”, said Haydn Hughes Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and Sports. “We are extremely pleased for Anguillas documentary heritage to be showcased at an international level ,and also look forward to taking full advantage of all opportunities aimed at having the Fountain Cavern being listed as a UNECSO World Heritage Site.”
Mrs Watson, an Archivist and a member of the Caribbean and Latin America regional network for the of the MoW program, visited Anguilla to participate in the inception meeting of the local MoW Committee.
Over a two (2) day period Mrs Watson explained the MoW Program in detail,and led the Committee through working sessions ,to identify potential submissions for national and international designation.
According to Mrs Watson the Committee’s objectives should be to preserve and protect Anguilla’s fragile documentary heritage. “This is anything documented in film, the written word, sound and photography,” she said “the current generations must preserve these so that future generations will know their past.”
She also explained that the documentary heritage can be inscribed nationally at first, then submitted for the regional and/or international subscription. The MoW Committee identified a number of themes that can be nominated for the international register.
These include the Revolution, Sombrero Island, the Salt Mining Industry, the Holy Piby. Some of these may be submitted as an individual country nomination e.g. the Salt Mining Industry and the Holy Piby. Others such as Sombrero Island, which has impacted upon International Commercial Law due to phosphate mining should be submitted jointly with the United Kingdom.
The international nominations will be reviewed by a panel of international experts “Before documentary heritage can gain the status of Memory of the World, the Committee must follow a stringent process” said Mrs Watson. “This will include compilation of a wide range of evidence on the subject, including testimonies from researches and experts”.
In preparation for submissions for the local and international register the MoW Committee envisages that this will require a great deal of collaboration from Anguillians at home and abroad as well as other subject specialists. The committee plans to call upon those with knowledge and access to documentary heritage to join forces in submitting the nominations
– Press Release
