A window to the world in Murcia
FOR this year’s celebration of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, the United Nations ( UN) rather poignantly noted: “Audiovisual materials as documentary heritage objects provide a ' Window to the World' as we observe events we cannot attend, we hear voices from the past who can no longer speak, and we craft stories that inform and entertain. Audiovisual content plays an increasingly vital role in our lives as we seek to understand the world and engage with our fellow beings.”
Murcia region’s celebrations included establishing an online archive of home videos relating to life and customs in the region from the 1950s to 1980s.
The collection contains 84 videos, which were recorded using non- professional equipment and ostensibly focus on the ‘ family’. However, over time, they have become of wider interest due to the films containing customs, and places and buildings that are now missing or modified.
The collection includes videos of Mazarrón bay in 1970; panoramic views of Cartagena in 1967 and Cabo de Palos in 1961; Cenajo reservoir in 1978; the Malecón
walkway in Murcia in 1970; the entrance of the Virgen de la Fuensanta in 1971; and a view of Aledo castle in 1960, amongst many others.
The oldest recording is of a family outing in Villa Calamari in Cartagena in 1950, whilst the most recent is of flooding in Santiago de la Ribera in 1987.
The archive has been developed with the collaboration of the Retrovisor association, who have been collecting video recordings through their Memorias Celuloides ( celluloid memories) initiative.
For this project, the association has been digitalising Double 8, Super 8, 9.5mm, and 16mm home videos.
The online home video archive forms part of the Carmesi ( regional government information society archive catalogue) project, which has already digitalised more than 1.2 million historical documents in order to make them available to researchers, educators, creators and the general public.
To access the fascinating archive visit www. regmur cia. com, then follow the ‘ video’ link under the ‘ multimedia’ heading on the left side of the page. From here click on the ‘ Historia’ link on the top of the list, followed by ‘ Cine doméstico’ at the bottom of the following list.