UNRWA - Photo and film archives of the Palestinian refugees

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UNRWA - Photo and film archives of the Palestinian refugees
World document heritage UNESCO World Document Heritage emblem
UNRWA in Bayader Wadi Al Seer, Amman, Jordan 2.jpg
UNRWA headquarters in Amman
Duration: 10,000 photos, 15,000 color slides, 400,000 negatives, 75 films and other video material
Period: 1950-2009
Storage: UNRWA headquarters in Gaza and Amman
Register link: UNRWA Photo and Film Archives of Palestinian Refugees
Admission: 2009 ( session 9 )

The UNRWA photo and film archives of the Palestinian refugees were registered (without assignment to a state) as World Document Heritage in 2009 .

Since the United Nations Relief Organization for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) began work on May 1, 1950, it has been collecting photos and film recordings that document various aspects of the life and history of Palestinian refugees . These pictures were taken by the aid agency's employees themselves, but also by photographers and film agencies working on behalf of the UN headquarters in New York; the rights in this case were transferred to UNRWA.

The Palestinian refugee problem has preoccupied international politics for decades, but at times it received little attention from the media. Documentation by UNRWA is of particular importance here; it has one of the most comprehensive collections of visual archive materials on the subject.

Content

The refugee movement of 1948 ( Palestine War ) is documented by photographs, some of which have achieved iconic status. Other political priorities are the establishment of refugee camps in the 1950s, the second refugee movement in 1967 ( six-day war ), the civil war in Lebanon , the unrest in the late 1980s and the unrest that began in 2000 (first and second intifada ). In addition, UNRWA documents the everyday life of the refugees and the aid provided for them. While the number of registered Palestinian refugees has risen from 914,000 in 1950 to over 4.4 million, according to the relief agency, a high level of education and good health care could be achieved for these people.

Archiving

When the relief organization began its work, photos and films were initially stored in the organization's headquarters in Beirut . Because of the Lebanese civil war , the headquarters and the archive were evacuated to Vienna in 1982 . However, UNRWA left part of its Beirut audiovisual archive to the PLO , and these archive materials have been in the Israeli Military Archives ( IDF ) since 1982 .

During the years in Vienna UNRWA expanded its activities considerably and employed several photographers and its own film team. Much of the inventory was collected during this time. In 1996 UNRWA moved to its headquarters in Gaza and transferred part of the archives from Vienna there; however, some UNRWA departments were relocated to Amman . “Around 50,000 photos and negatives reached Gaza, about which the management of the refugee agency was increasingly concerned because of the periodic armed conflicts between the Islamist Hamas ruling there and the Israeli army . Probably because of this, and also because of the threat of decay of the photo and film material, the decision was made to digitize the holdings. "

In Amman there is a cold room where the UNRWA keeps negatives and films (most of the archive material). In spite of this possibility of storage, one part is clumped together in such a way that these negatives can no longer be separated even by appropriate restoration techniques. The same applies to the old film material, some of which are already too fragile to be digitized.

Photos and negatives

The photo archive contains around 10,000 selected photographs, 15,000 color slides and 400,000 negatives. The older black and white photographs, in particular, are requested by newspapers, magazines, film producers, and scientists from around the world. The contact person for this is the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza. The negative collection is considered to be the most valuable part of the archive, especially since every photo in the collection is represented with the corresponding negative. These 400,000 negatives are archived at UNRWA headquarters in Amman.

Films and video material

The film archive contains 75 films shot between 1950 and 1984, as well as other video material. The films are located in Amman. The film Sands of Sorrow , shot in Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan in 1950, is the first ever documentary on the Palestinian refugee issue. The film Aftermath is not only about the escape in 1967, but also about the internationally neglected situation in Jordan after 1967, which forced many Palestinians to flee again. The video recordings of the aid agency are in the archives in Gaza.

Digitization and traveling exhibition

As part of the digitization, UNRWA presented in the Jerusalem cultural center Al-Ma'mal ("The Factory", near the New Gate ) under the title The Long Journey from November 2013 a small traveling exhibition with around 100 photos and some videos, which were then also shown in has been shown to some Arab and Western states. The opening coincided with the "Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People" proclaimed by the UN. The pictures do not address violent situations, but primarily aid projects for refugees. A spokesman for the Israeli State Department criticized the New York Times for the fact that the exhibition project cost money that may not be available to provide for those in need. UNRWA pointed out that the digitization and exhibition project would not be financed from its own budget, but from funds from the Danish and French governments and private donors. Rephael Ben-Ari ( Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs ) saw The Long Journey as one of several contributions by UNRWA to the cultivation of a mythologized “refugee mentality ” ( refugeeism ): the traveling exhibition shows the crucial role UNRWA plays in the construction of a political Palestinian identity.

With support from EU funds, the touring exhibition was shown in October 2016 in the Atrium The Hague . It was opened there by UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl , the Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Lilianne Ploumen and the Mayor of The Hague, Jozias van Aartsen .

literature

  • Bashar Shammout: Digital Preservation of the Auditory and Visual Cultural Heritage of Palestine: Fundamentals and Perspectives. Tectum Verlag, Baden-Baden 2018, ISBN 978-3-82884217-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Memory of the World International Register Nomination Form: UNRWA Photo and Film Archives of Palestinian Refugees , p. 1.
  2. ↑ a b c Memory of the World International Register Nomination Form: UNRWA Photo and Film Archives of Palestinian Refugees , p. 4.
  3. ↑ a b Memory of the World International Register Nomination Form: UNRWA Photo and Film Archives of Palestinian Refugees , p. 3.
  4. ↑ a b Memory of the World International Register Nomination Form: UNRWA Photo and Film Archives of Palestinian Refugees , p. 7.
  5. ↑ Memory of the World International Register Nomination Form: UNRWA Photo and Film Archives of Palestinian Refugees , p. 4.
  6. ↑ Bashar Shammout: Digital preservation of the auditory and visual cultural heritage of Palestine: Basics and Perspectives, Baden-Baden 2018, pp. 114, 140.
  7. ↑ Memory of the World International Register Nomination Form: UNRWA Photo and Film Archives of Palestinian Refugees , p. 5.
  8. ↑ a b c d Joseph Croitoru: UNRWA photo exhibition "The Long Journey" The long journey into the unknown. In: Qantara.de . 2014, accessed July 22, 2019 .
  9. ↑ UN marks Palestinian Solidarity day with refugee photo exhibition. In: ynetnews. November 13, 2013, accessed July 22, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Rephael Ben-Ari: UNRWA: Blurring the Lines between Humanitarianism and Politics. In: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Retrieved July 22, 2019 .
  11. ↑ With EU support, UNRWA opens thirty-second edition of 'the Long Journey' archive exhibition in the Hague. In: UNRWA. October 13, 2016, accessed July 22, 2019 .