Working trip to Germany: Delegation from Perm visited archival depository of Duisburg

Between 14 and 18 of June within cooperation of twin cities, the working trip of Perm delegation to the city of Duisburg (Germany) took place. The delegation consisted of Natalya Afanasyeva, Director of the Agency for Archival Affairs of Perm Krai, Andrey Borisov, Director of the State Archive of the Perm Krai, Kirill Prozumentik, Deputy Director for Development of the State Archive of the Perm Krai. The goal of the trip was to exchange experience in archival affairs and discuss the concept and plan of execution of the International Archival Conference in 2017 “Social Mission and Accessibility of Archives in XXI century”. The receiving party was presented by the management and staff of the City Archive of Duisburg (Stadtarchiv Duisburg) – Dr. Andreas Pilger, Director of the Archive, Dr. Michael Kanther, Lisa Hampel, Marinko Betker.

The first event held within the working trip to Germany was the meeting with Thomas Krützberg, the Head of Department for Family Affairs, Education and Culture, in the City Department of Duisburg (Rathaus Duisburg). Sphere of competence of this Department includes the issues of organization of archival affairs in the city.

Afterwards there was an excursion over the City Archive of Duisburg, during which the Russian delegation visited archive depositories, restoration department, reading halls, and specialized audience for studies with pupils and students, also suitable for collective events of the Archive and the Center for Culture of Remembrance, Human Rights and Democracy (Das Zentrum für Erinnerungskultur, Menschenrechte und Demokratie). The excursion ended with the presentation of joint working of the Archive and the Center: Anne Ley-Schalles told about the work with youth, publishing and expositional projects. In particular, she presented the exhibition and the publication of the same name «Noch viele Jahre lang habe ich nachts von Duisburg geträumt». The presentation was followed by Marinko Betker, the expert officer of the Archive, telling about advancement and popularization of activities of the City Archive of Duisburg via publications on the social network service Facebook.

On the same day the guests from Perm visited the Archive of Alternative Documents (Archiv für Alternatives Schrifttum). This Archive specializes in keeping the documents of youth public organizations upwards the 60’s of the XX century. The Archive contains the historical documents of various student movements and unions, and also the documents of pacifist, ecological, and many other organizations. Documentary heritage of subcultures for the period of several decades holds a specific place in the archive.

The next day of the trip was dedicated to the discussion of the concept and plan of execution of the International Archival Conference in 2017 “Social Mission and Accessibility of Archives in XXI century”. Among the discussed topics there was date, place, format, composition of the organizing committee, membership, financing sources, logistics, and key topics of the International Archival Conference.

During the discussion there were made settlements on preliminary date and location of the event – June, 2017, the city of Perm.

In addition there was determined an approximate composition of the organizing committee, including representatives of archive agency of the Perm Krai and Duisburg, compile a list of countries participating in the conference and the list of main topics for discussion.

In the evening the delegation visited the State Archive of the Federal State of North Rhein-Westphalia (Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen). It is worth mentioning that 22-storeyed building of the Archive is the highest one in Duisburg. The guests were met by Dr. Martina Wiech, Director of Rhein Department of the Archive. Perm delegation was accompanied by Erkan Kocalar, burgomaster of the city of Duisburg, and Heike Maus, Head of Division of Political, Management and Representativity Affairs at the City Administration of Duisburg. During the excursion the guests had a look at archive depositories, exposition halls, and laboratory of the Archive, and also visited reading hall with glass walls, created in a “unwalled archive” style.

On the last day of staying, Perm delegation visited Archive Consulting Center of the Rhein region (LVR-Archivberatungs- und Fortbildungszentrum), which is located in the city of Brauweiler, near Cologne. The Center represents a huge laboratory for restoration and capture of archive documents: its main goal is providing archives and museums of Rhein region with commercial services of restoration, dedusting, acid removal, disinfection, and converting into digital format of documentary heritage of the region. Beyond that, on a regular basis the Center upgrade the skills and consult archivists not only from Germany, but also from neighboring countries, about what the colleagues from Perm were told by Arie Nabrings, Director of the Center, and also Volker Hingst, Head of Division of Archive Documents Restoration Affairs and Dr. Claudia Kauertz, Head of Division of Consulting Services. During the presentation, the guests from Perm were acquainted with modern technologies of archive documents restoration and their protection, including the methods of paper acid neutralizing, removal of lamination layer, elimination of mechanic damages (cracks and hollows), vacuum drying and others.