Africa, a continent without archives? Study day at the Emile Zola Media Library

Africa, a continent without archives, really?!

At the intersection of regalian, history and heritage, the conservation of archives requires a political and normative framework as well as professional skills that are the subject of intense international cooperation activity in France, notably led by the École nationale des chartes. Contrary to the stereotype of the "old man - oral library", the presence in the countries of the African continent of written traces subject to protection and conservation measures is neither a new fact nor an administrative certainty, in contexts sometimes marked by crises, conflicts and internal or cross-border clashes. To address all the questions and the complexity of the issues relating to archives in Africa, their collection, their conservation and their availability, it is proposed, on the occasion of the Europe-Africa summit and in partnership with the Ecole nationale des chartes, to honour the National Archives of Madagascar, through the invitation of their director, Mrs Sylvie Andriamihamina, as well as a day which allows this field to be addressed more broadly.

Pre-program:

9:15 a.m.: Welcome of participants

9:30 a.m.: Opening speech

10 a.m.: inaugural conference

Archives, sources, materials: shedding light on the past of African societies

By Hervé Pennec (DR CNRS), head of GIS Africa

10:30-11:45 a.m.: Seen from France, an overview of archives on the continent

Round table led by Edouard Vasseur (ENC), professor at the Ecole des Chartes, holder of the UNESCO chair Archives at the service of African Nations and Societies, Basma Makhlouf (Geneva School of Management, ICA) and Christine Martinez (president of Archivists Without Borders France)

11:45-12:30: The training and cooperation policy of the National Audiovisual Institute – Focus on a specific project (Zimbabwe) and on the Robben Island Museum project

By Thomas Monteil, INA project manager, specialist in sound restoration, and Juliette Cahin, INA project manager at the Delegation for European and International Affairs.

12:30-2:00 p.m.: lunch

2 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: The cooperation policy of the National School of Charters in Africa

By Elsa Marguin-Hamon, Director of Research and International Relations at the Ecole Nationale des Chartes, and Edouard Vasseur, Professor of the History of Institutions, Archives and Contemporary Diplomacy at the Ecole Nationale des Chartes

2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.: The Archives of Madagascar: conservation, promotion and research

Round table discussion led by Elsa Marguin-Hamon, with Sylvie Andriamihamina, director of the National Archives of Madagascar, Fabien Bordelès (National Archives of Overseas), Samuel Sanchez (Paris I, IRD), and Bernard Toulier (Jean-Mabillon Center – National School of Charters)

4 p.m.: closing speech

Cinema & Meeting Room

Promotion of the Network’s collections

Throughout the period, collections related to Africa will be promoted in the Network, both on site in media libraries (bibliographies, thematic tables of books, films, music) but also online (selections of heritage documents in Memonum, filmographies in Video on Demand services, etc.).