The Syrian Archive Digital Memory Project: Archiving as Testimony, as Evidence, as Creative Practice

Saber, Dima and Al-Jaloud, Abdul Rahman (2024) The Syrian Archive Digital Memory Project: Archiving as Testimony, as Evidence, as Creative Practice. Visual Anthropology, 37 (1). pp. 19-34. ISSN 0894-9468

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Abstract

Founded in 2014, the Syrian Archive is a collective of human rights activists dedicated to curating visual documentation of human rights violations and other crimes committed during the conflict in Syria.

Working within the context of the Syrian Archive Digital Memory Project and building on a series of interviews which took place between 2018 and 2022 with 40 photographers and videographers based in Syria and in the diaspora, this article explores the main motivations behind Syrians’ documentation of the uprising-war since 2011. It articulates the potential of this crowd-sourced archive of the uprising-war across three main spaces: its testimonial and
historical, its evidentiary and its creative value. Across all three spaces, the Digital Memory Project, and by extension this article, advocate for the creation of a space where reflections on the value of crowd-sourced archives can happen in their authors’ own voices, rather than on their behalf.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1080/08949468.2023.2285215
Dates:	Date Event 16 November 2023 Accepted 14 February 2024 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Syria, Syrian Archive, 2011 uprising-war, crowd-sourced archives, memory digital media
Subjects:	CAH24 - media, journalism and communications > CAH24-01 - media, journalism and communications > CAH24-01-05 - media studies
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > College of English and Media
Depositing User:	Nick Webber
Date Deposited:	15 Dec 2023 15:50
Last Modified:	19 Feb 2024 16:11
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/15009

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