In his speech at the 3-day symposium marking the official launching of the digital archive, the minister of Tourism and Culture, Hamat N.K. Bah expressed delight, saying the digitisation would enhance visibility and access to the archives.
“It will also improve preservation as now we have dependable backup copies of the material which is a critical aspect of the archive’s survival. The online access, I am told, will be on paid basis, which means that NCAC can generate more revenue from access to the archives. And will only be given if a formal research permission is paid for,” the minister pointed out.
He noted further that the online access will enhance the Open Educational Resource potential of the archives for schools and colleges to use it to further improve learning and educational attainment. “In this way, the oral archives will enhance The Gambia’s commitment to the UN SDG of attaining quality education among others,” he added.
Minister Bah quickly expressed profound gratitude of the government to Prof. Schreiber from the University of Hamburg, who, since 2015, has steadfastly held on to the idea that the project ‘can happen and has happened.’
He also thanked Dr. Katrin for her great love for the oral archives and The Gambia. “I am cognizant of the generous support by the various German institutions like the University of Hamburg and Gerda Henkel Foundation and wish to thank them through the embassy staff here present,” Minister Bah expressed appreciation to the partners.
He used the opportunity to also pay tribute to late Bakari Sidibe who is rightly the founder of the archives. “He deserves our thanks and sincere prayers for his foresight. When he was collecting these recordings in the 1960s onwards, a few people believed in what he was doing and his persistence is what we are harvesting today.”
The Tourism and Culture minister also thanked the NCAC director general, its board and staff for their total commitment, saying “In 2017, I was promised that the archives will be taken good care of. I am happy to see that promise is achieved and I commend the Director General Hassoum Ceesay for the good work. I must also remember the former DG Baba Ceesay, under whose tenure the project was signed, sealed in 2017.”
The international symposium is currently being attended by scholars from different countries, while 20 academic papers by scholars from the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Nigeria, USA, UK, Italy and Germany making the forum a truly international academic session.
Therefore, the Minister said scholars’ presence in the symposium would enhance scholarly pursuits among the youth, especially University students and motivate them to use the archives for their own research on various aspects of Gambian history, culture and folklore.
Dr Katrin Pfeiffer, African Language Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg (Project Quality Assurance); Prof Dr Henning Schreiber, African Language Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg (Project Coordinator, Germany) and Hassoum Ceesay, Director General of National Centre of Arts and Culture all delivered speeches at the ceremony.
