Translations:Chapter Zero/7/en

Memoria Abierta, 2023, pg. 13.

The work with civil society archives has expanded the definition of the archive to other formats that are registers of knowledge and cultural expression. Symbolic objects such as sewn dolls, weavings, mandalas, ceramics, T-shirts used in mobilizations, banners, among others, can be incorporated into inventories, for example through photographic records. Their preservation as objects also implies expanding the form of storage and preservation of archives and using tools and knowledge from the world of museums. On the other hand, cultural expressions such as dance, theater, singing, and music, which are ways of recording and transmitting knowledge and memories and are considered a fundamental part of the trajectory and context of an organization, can be recorded in conventional formats (video, audio, transcription, photography) and thus be incorporated into the archive.

Some organizations build databases to record data on cases of human rights violations. For this purpose they collect documentation of different types, formats and media, and in these organizations the documents are the basis for recording the facts. However, on many occasions, the priority is registration, follow-up, and advocacy rather than the archival logic of the documents. In the long term, this puts access and preservation at risk, therefore organizations are encouraged to undertake this type of work.