AMIA 2024

In this presentation, archivists will report on the AMIA fiscally sponsored project, Preserving Community Memory in the Balkans. The project is a collaboration between archivists, artists, and cultural workers in Serbia and the United States to develop preservation initiatives and foster regional preservation networks. The region is rich in culture and history, yet there is little infrastructure or funding to collect or preserve the abandoned and community-held archival collections that exist in former factories, homes, and private collections. To address this challenge, independent, volunteer-led organizations are taking the lead. The speakers will discuss the work of SKVER, a regional archive in eastern Serbia; the evolution of Timok Digital, SKVER’s regional annual education and training workshop; the development of Serbia’s first Memory Lab; the Serbian translation of the Community Archiving Workshop's "La Lotería Audiovisual"; and the work of Rainbow Ignite, an organization collecting and safeguarding documentation of LGBTQ+ history in Serbia.