The workshop was officially opened by Dr. Marsis Sutopo who gave a detailed history of the archive and outlined that the records in the collection date back over 100 years and demonstrate the changing history and approach to conservation through this period. Dr. Sutopo further added that majority of the records are from the 1970-1983 period which saw one of the earliest and largest international conservation cooperation campaigns take place at Borobudur. Such international campaigns were the catalysts for the creation of the World Heritage Convention itself.

The workshop training was facilitated by Mr. Andrew Henderson, from the UNESCO Office in Jakarta. Mr. Henderson began the workshop with an outline of the ‘complementary approaches to cultural heritage safeguarding’ and the relationships between the Memory of the World program, the World Heritage Convention, and Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention respectively. Mr. Henderson shared that these programs often tell the same ‘story’ from different perspectives and each of them enriches the story by throwing light on a specific aspect of cultural and historical significance.  In this context, the archive of the Borobudur Conservation Office has the potential to tell a different story about the World Heritage site of Borobudur.

The following sessions of the workshop involved presentations on the ‘Overview of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program’ and ‘Nominating to a MOW register: The process, the nomination document, the criteria, assessment and benefits’. This was then followed by a lively and interactive discussion amongst the participants on the potential of the archive for the MoW program and how a nomination could best be developed. Following this discussion, the participants divided in to working groups to respond to each section of the nomination form. The workshop concluded with a presentation of the draft nomination form that the participants completed.

UNESCO launched the Memory of the World Programme in 1992 to guard against collective amnesia calling upon the preservation of the valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world ensuring their wide dissemination. The Programme vision is that the world's documentary heritage belongs to all, should be fully preserved and protected for all and, with due recognition of cultural mores and practicalities, should be permanently accessible to all without hindrance. The Programme is thus intended to protect documentary heritage, and to help networks of experts to exchange information and raise resources for the preservation of, and the access to, documentary and archival collections of valuable records.

Memory of the World:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/flagship-project-activities/memory-of-the-world/homepage/

Complementary approaches to cultural heritage safeguarding:
http://www.unescobkk.org/fr/communication-and-information/knowledge-societies/complementary-approaches-to-cultural-heritage-safeguarding/

For further information please contact Andrew Henderson: a.henderson(at)unesco.org