Audiovisual archives are increasingly confronted with ethical, social, and technical challenges when documenting traumatic, community-based and/or marginalised histories. This two‑hour participatory workshop explores how archive services can engage responsibly with these sensitive materials while fostering more inclusive and community‑centred practices.
Designed as a World Café, the session invites participants to rotate across thematic tables, each guided by an expert moderator and introduced by a short case study highlighting key dilemma and approach.
Examples will frame the collective discussion and encourage participants to reflect on the diversity of archival contexts and methodologies. Together, participants will identify concrete actions linked to three essential dimensions:
- Publics and mediation: strategies for contextualising sensitive materials, involving communities in shaping narratives, and supporting inclusive authorship of shared histories.
- Witnesses and co‑creation: ethical engagement with contributors and survivors, including methods for their protection and empowerment, and collaborative production of archival content.
- Collections and archival practice: improving discoverability of sensitive collections, addressing descriptive biases, and examining both the potential and risks of AI in the management of marginalised archives.
Bringing together contributors from varied regions, institutional traditions, and professional backgrounds, from national heritage institutions to grassroots archival initiatives, the workshop aims to foster a plural, global, and practice‑oriented exchange.
A final plenary will synthesise insights from all tables and outline a shared set of recommendations to support more ethical, inclusive, and community‑centred approaches within audiovisual memory institutions.
