We are pleased to announce the results of the 2019 round of the MOWCAP-Asia Culture Center (ACC) Grants program. This year the grants will support fourteen (14) organisations from across the Asia-Pacific to safeguard and make their documentary heritage collections accessible.
Grants were awarded to organisations from Cambodia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. Applications were received from organisations from over 35 countries.
The generous financial support of the Asia Culture Center (ACC), and operational support of the Asia Culture Institute (ACI), has made these grants possible.
Statements from MOWCAP, ACC and the ACI:
Dr. Lee Jinsik, Acting President of the ACC, congratulated all the successful organisations and shared that “their work to capture the memory of our region, expressed through its diverse documentary heritage, ensures that future generations can appreciate and understand our regions varied and diverse history for many years to come.”
Mr. Lee Gi Pyo, President of the ACI, outlined that he was “very impressed with the quality and range of the applications. The Asia Culture Institute is proud to work with MOWCAP to support important documentary heritage initiatives and help bring the region’s documentary heritage projects to life.”
Mr. Kwibae Kim, Chair of MOWCAP, shared that “the projects supported under the 2019 MOWCAP-ACC, grants, and the large number of applications received from across the region, demonstrates the broad range of amazing work being done in our region to preserve and share our documentary heritage. I sincerely thank our partner, Asia Culture Center, whose support has made these grants possible, and also Asia Culture Institute, who have supported the administration of the grants through the MOWCAP Office. MOWCAP congratulates the successful organisations and encourages applications for the next funding round which will open in early 2020.”
Projects Supported in 2019:
After a rigorous assessment process by the MOWCAP Bureau members and the ACC/ACI representatives, the following projects were deemed to have best met the grant application criteria:
In Cambodia, the grant will support the Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center to digitize an important collection of Cambodia’s audiovisual archives from the 1990s. The digitized films will be made accessible to the public through an online database.
In the Cook Islands, the University of the South Pacific, in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Development of Cook Islands, will digitize the newspapers of Cook Islands from 1957 to 1970. Once digitized, this important resource will be shared with communities, schools, universities and research institutes.
The Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands will hold a training session to establish Memory of the World (MoW) National Committees and develop MoW register nominations. This will be the first training on the MoW ever held in the country.
From Indonesia, the Oral Traditions Association will create a documentary film on La Galigo, a poetic text dating back to the 14th century that was inscribed on the Memory of the World Register in 2011. It is expected that this film will bring the meaning of La Galigo to new audiences.
The grant will also support Sinematek Indonesia, in partnership with National Archives of Indonesia, to catalogue the Archives of the Central Film Production Company (Pusat Produksi Film Negara (PPFN)). By doing so, they will be able to provide comprehensive information about PPFN for users across the world.
In Iran, the archaeological documents and reports (from 1908 to 1941) relating to the Persepolis and the Tomb of Cyrus the Great will be digitized and made accessible through a web-based platform. This project builds on the first phase digitization that took place as part of the 2018 grants program.
In Kazakhstan, an important collection of Korean books and manuscripts, held in the National Library of the of Kazakhstan, will be digitized and made accessible. The digitised Korean books and manuscripts will be translated in to English, Kazakh, and Russian.
From Malaysia, the Malaysian Arts and Culture Association Kuching, will finalize their production of a documentary heritage film about the Hikayat Hang Tuah, documentary heritage recognized on the international MoW Register in 2001). Using the 2018 grant, the preproduction, workshops and plan for the film creation was already completed.
Also from Malaysia, the World Heritage Moving Image Centre, will research, write and publish a book regarding moving image heritage of Malaysia, which includes 30 audiovisual collections. This publication aims to introduce this important heritage to new audiences in Malaysia and across the region.
Save Myanmar Film is an NGO dedicated to preserving and sharing the rich cinematic heritage of Myanmar. The NGO works closely with the Myanmar Ministry of Information, and the funds will be used to hold an intensive training on using U-matic players, and for digitizing the last copies of documentary heritage on U-matic tapes in Myanmar, a type of documentary heritage at high risk due to technological obsolescence.
The Chitrasena Kalayathanaya (Dance School) and the Chitrasena Dance Company have played a major role in the development of Sri Lankan dance and dance theatre since the first half of the 20th century. The organization holds an important archive, however, it is currently at risk and difficult to access. This grant will be used to help preserve, catalogue and digitize the collection.
In the Philippines, the Metro-Dagupan Colleges aims to create awareness on the dearth of information resources on Pangasinan and the Pangasinan language otherwise known as Pangasiniana. This project will include the compilation of Pangasiniana resources from the various libraries in the province of Pangasinan and develop an online index accessible to the public through a website called PAOIL (Pangasiniana Archive and Online Index to its Literature).
In Timor-Leste, Timor-Aid will work with the Museum der Kulturen Basel, to digitise and publish a book on the ‘Baguia Collection’, The collection has 300 black and white photographs, including original images of the communities of Makasae and Naueti from Timor-Leste. This publication will be make this documentary heritage more accessible to the people of Timor-Leste and wider world.
The PhucGiang School Woodblocks were recognised on the regional Memory of the World register in 2016 for their significance for understanding Vietnamese-China relations. The project, carried out by Nguyen Huy Family, will involve the translation of the documentary heritage from ancient Chinese into Vietnamese. This will result in this important documentary heritage collection being accessible to more people across Vietnam.
Contact Us:
For all grant enquiries about the MOWCAP-ACC Grants, please contact us at: grants@mowcap.net