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This project aims to encourage cross-disciplinary work between archivists and World Heritage site managers in co-developing strategies for better management of conservation-related records and archives that are still of use by archaeologists, architects, engineers, material scientists and technicians. Injee Kim, a Programme Officer at UNESCO Office in Bangkok, explained, ‘This project has undertaken two streams of implementation: First, it conducts needs assessments on record conservation and management at the three World Heritage sites. Second, it also supports capacity building activities for site managers and archivists and give them a sustainable backing in improving and managing their site-based archival systems.’ 

One of the key outputs of this project is a Manual on Managing World Heritage Conservation Archives in Southeast Asia, which is being drafted by a team of UNESCO experts on archives and conservation specifically for this sub-region’s context of challenges and resource situations. Once finalized, this manual will be disseminated to other World Heritage Sites in South East Asia to mainstream the cross-disciplinary collaboration between site managers and archivists in saving valuable records for heritage conservation before their irretrievable loss.

‘This workshop is held in parallel to the ongoing drafting of the sub-regional manual on archives management,’ Moe Chiba, Programme Specialist for Culture at UNESCO Office in Jakarta, clarified. ‘Topics and contents presented at this workshop, therefore, are from the draft structure of the manual and were designed to fill gaps of technical skills identified by professionals in this field. Many participants joining this workshop also took part in site-based needs assessments preceding this workshop, and we hope that their inputs and comments to each of the training sessions will lead to qualitative finalization of our sub-regional manual.’

Eang Hourt Khou, Deputy Director-General of Koh Ker World Heritage Site, said that he and his team expected not only ‘to learn more proactively on the role of archives in heritage conservation and development for the benefit of both of Temple of Preah Vihear and Koh Ker World Heritage Sites, but also to build network with other World Heritage site managers and archivists in Indonesia and Thailand.’

‘I believe that archives are important in the preservation of World Heritage Sites because we only move forward by understanding our past,’ said Karen Karyadi, Associate Editor for ATA Online of Getty Conservation Institute, who co-facilitated sessions on archival arrangement and description. ‘Archives about previous conservation or restoration works help us avoid repeating technical mistakes or failures we did in the past in terms of decisions on how we protect a heritage site of global value and how we manage its ever-developing surroundings.’

With this objective in mind, the workshop touched upon key archiving concepts and principles, cataloguing techniques, digitization and access provision, conservation, storage and disaster risk management, archives policy development and site-level multi-term action plans linking World Heritage management with archives management.

This gathering also featured educational field visits to the Borobudur Conservation Office (BCO), Karmawibhangga Museum and Borobudur Temple Compound, which deepened the participants’ appreciation of good governance, hard work and dedication observable in every detail of the site’s maintenance and interpretation.

‘By profession, I already have some practical knowledge about appraisal, retention and record management,’ Pawida Somwong, an archival conservator from Thailand, reflected on her recent international experience. ‘This workshop has expanded my understanding on these principles, and I cannot wait to use my newly gained techniques at the Office of National Archives, as well as at the Historic City of Ayutthaya, where our pilot project with UNESCO is taking place.’ 

The documentary heritage associated with the World Heritage Sites are critical for understanding, managing and monitoring these sites. With collaborative mindset at the centre of the project, UNESCO and its partners hope to improve the protection of conservation-related records that will become documentary heritage in the future, and in turn contribute to a more informed approach to World Heritage conservation and management.

The next activity planned in the context of the project ‘Safeguarding World Heritage Archives in Southeast Asia’ is an online workshop to introduce the Manual on Managing World Heritage Conservation Archives in Southeast Asia, targeting several World Heritage Sites in Southeast Asia. 

In the meantime, the Koh Ker team and UNESCO Cambodia will build on the outcomes of the training held in July by organizing a consultative workshop that will bring together archives centers and related institutions in Cambodia, with a view to establishing a Standard Operating Procedure for the management of Kor Ker’s archives.

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