International Oral History Association

Thu05172012

IOHA News All Issues Volume 18:1

Volume 18:1

From The Editors

Volume 18:1
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As the time for the Prague 2010 conference fast approaches, we can feel and share the excitement and anticipation from all different corners of the world where oral history is present. We congratulate the organizers for the extraordinary response and interest generated by the conference, particularly during this time of trying global economic conditions.

As we have done in the past, this issue includes information on fascinating applications of oral history, such as it is the case of Venezuela that will be hosting the next international conference following the very successful meeting in Mexico earlier this year.

During the last six months there have been events that deserve particular mention and congratulations, particularly the celebration of the birth of two new associations of Oral History. The Association of Oral History of the North of Argentina (AHONA) and the Nicaraguan Association of Oral History (ANIHO). Latin America has been particularly active organizing and disseminating work, as demonstrated in workshops and projects taking place in Panama, Venezuela, and Argentina, to name a few.

On the other hand we have an opportunity to profile in this issue the different activities taking place in the Basque Country and Navarra. On the one hand the Gernika Gogoratuz Association, informing our readership of the meetings held last Spring looking for links between life, memory and preservation of peace. On the other, from Navarra we are informed of a major development project in the construction of the Archive of Immaterial Assets of Navarra, a project in between oral history and ethnography.

If you are planning to hold an oral history meeting or if you are working on a project we would like to encourage you to submit your materials. The next issue is the one that precedes the next conference in Prague, and it would be a great opportunity to build interest and anticipation for your projects and associations.

Juan José Gutiérrez (English text) - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Miren Llona (Spanish text)- This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Co-editors, IOHA News

From the President

Volume 18:1
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Throughout 2009, I have been able to attend a number of Oral History conferences and meetings in Spain and around the world as president of the IOHA. This experience has been especially positive as I have been able to reassert my belief that the personal contact between Oral History researchers, teachers, students and social workers is irreplaceable. Indeed, it is a necessary complement to our professional relations that are increasingly established over the Internet and email.

The first international meeting I attended was the Italian Oral History Association Congress (AISO) that was held in Padua in May 2009. The AISO brought together a number of important figures in Oral History, among them Gabriella Gribaudi (the AISO president) and Sandro Portelli, with Sandro being particularly known for his work in oral history and for being one of the promoters of the international movement of oral historians of the IOHA.  The conference’s theme “Una memoria fondata sul lavoro" [A memory based on labour] created a framework to discuss interesting papers on work and labour in Italy, Romania and Mexico. Based on oral, audiovisual and written sources, these paper focused on the second half of the twentieth century as well as current processes of globalization.

Turning to the southern hemisphere, I had the pleasure of attending the Ninth National Oral History Meeting organized by the Argentine Oral History Association (AHORA), presided by Liliana Barela and the University of Buenos Aires (Pablo Pozzi). In this conference, many of the papers centered on the recent Argentine dictatorship, focusing on the memories of party activists and human rights organizations. The importance of these testimonies can be understood by visiting the former Detention and Torture Centre (called the Athletic Centre), one of many that existed in Buenos Aires in 1977 when 1500 people disappeared.

Quite distinct was my visit to the ORT school where I chatted with young students that work in the school’s oral history archive.  Thanks to the invitation extended by Laura Benadiba, I was able to grasp the interest that oral history generates in a classroom for younger generations of Argentines.

The seven hundred paper proposals that arrived to participate the XVI IOHA Conference in Prague is undoubtedly a challenge for the organization of the congress, particularly for our Czech colleagues who are working hard to make it a successful event. This interest should encourage all of us to strive for a new conference whose goal—as Sandro Portelli challenged us in Sydney—should be more than coming together to renew old friendships, but to meet new colleagues that test our points of view and assumptions about oral history. With this spirit, the IOHA Council is doing everything possible to obtain more travel grant funding for our conference in Prague in July 2010. I hope to see you all there.

Warm regards,

Pilar Domínguez This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
IOHA President