SHILLONG, April 3: A three-day workshop titled ‘Stories and Life Stories: Recording, Archiving and Disseminating Oral History’, was inaugurated on Monday at St. Anthony’s College, Shillong.
Organised by the Northeast India AV Archive in collaboration with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan, and under the aegis of IQAC, St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, the event will aim at educating the participants on the importance of preserving oral histories.
Dr. Indira Chowdhury, Director of the Centre for Public History at Srishti-Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, and Saaz Aggarwal, an independent oral historian, artist, and writer, were the resource persons.
In her address, Chowdhury highlighted the importance of capturing untold stories while emphasising the significance of understanding and preserving the past.
She encouraged participants to listen to their grandparents’ stories. “History, after all, begins at home,” she noted.
Prof. Desmond Kharmawphlang of the Cultural & Creative Studies Department, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), who was the chief guest, highlighted the role that stories play in oral tradition.
He described oral tradition as being as essential as food and drink, encompassing various forms, genres, and troupes that interact with text and other forms of communication.
Kharmawphlang shared a recent experience that underscored the critical role of oral tradition in sustaining history, legitimising cognitive categories of culture and formulating meaningful modes of existence.
He also stressed that archives should not only conserve cultural material but also rejuvenate and animate them through the creation of robust descriptions, providing accessibility to researchers and interested parties.
It may be mentioned that the three-day workshop aims to offer participants an understanding of the preservation of oral histories and contribute to the meaningful management of heritage.
