This article presents the argument that archivists and media scholars need to take on new practices, such as organizing hackathons or marathons, to facilitate the creative re-use of archival material. With these practices they could support the outreach of local communities and understand the nuances of reusing archival content to contextualize their records. In order to sustain this claim, I present one case study in which a group of international writers and video makers join forces to re-use audiovisual archive material in Helsinki, Finland. I unfold the limitations and opportunities that a one-day event presented to artists, archivists and media scholars, while collaborating and creatively re-using audiovisual archival material. The discussion uncovers issues pertaining to the facilitation of creative re-use as means for integration, the multicultural representation of the archives, the development of media literacy in collaborative processes and the challenges in the practice of legally reusing archival material.

1. Outreach of immigrants’ communities and its benefits for the archives
Mariana Salgado
Postdoctoral Researcher
Media Lab- ARTS- Aalto University
Virtual archives and online portals are currently changing the relations
between the keepers and users of audiovisual heritage, and are challenging
the role of the archivist as the principal expert on the knowledge a
collection represents (Noodegraaf, 2011 ). In this article the focus is on the1
knowledge that is produced while creatively reusing archives. Even when
many archives adhere to participatory archiving practices, these practices
are not widespread and legitimate. Facilitating the creative re-use of
archival material is a participatory endeavour that has the potential to
enrich existing practices. This is particularly true for those archives that
want to develop their online presence and give the possibility to media
researchers to study knowledge produced through use. This knowledge does
not relate to the way in which the archivist or the historian finds and
classifies material; It relates to the way enthusiastic video makers find and
use audiovisual materials for their creations. This approach calls for new
strategies for contextualizing the audiovisual archives.
Most of the enthusiastic video makers I have worked with produce their
pieces using footage created by themselves or their teams. This way,
however, archives miss the opportunity to collaborate with them and enrich
their collections. This article tells about the experience of motivating
immigrants to re-use audiovisual archives in a Video Poetry Marathon (VPM).
During one day nineteen writers and video makers realized a pre-defined
task: making a video poem. Video poems are a form of video art that mixes
text, music, sound and images. The Video Poetry Marathon was one track of
a larger event called Hack your Heritage!- Hack4fi . This hackathon aimed2
at re-using Finnish archive materials that were recently released with
Creative Commons licenses or were part of the commons. The Video Poetry
Marathon (VPM) was a participatory research process in which people from
different backgrounds could re-use audiovisual footage. Furthermore, the
idea was to explore the re-use of audiovisual archives in multidisciplinary
and cross-cultural teams, as well as gain inspirational ideas for the creation
of online tools for editing and publishing videos for the project EUscreenXL3
(2013-2016).
Noordegraaf, Julia. 2011. “Remembering the Past in the Dynarchive: The State of Knowledge in1
Digital Archives.” In Unstable Platforms: The Promise and Peril of Transition. Boston: MIT
Press. http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/mit7/papers/Noordegraaf.pdf.
AvoinGLAM. 2015. Reusing Finnish cultural heritage – Best concepts of “Hack your heritage”2
awarded. Retrieved from http://avoinglam.fi/
EUscreenXL. 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2015, from http://blog.euscreen.eu/3
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2. The event was organized in collaboration with Sivuvalo , a group of4
immigrant writers who write in languages other than Finnish or Swedish
(official languages in Finland). In addition, there was an open call to
enthusiastic video makers. During the day of the event each video maker
chose one of the translations and worked together with the writer to create
the video poem.
When the teams were ready, they could copy the AV files that were in a hard
disk. Videos coming from Catalonian Television (part of EUscreenXL project)
and The Society of Swedish Literature in Finland were available in high
resolution. Furthermore, participants could browse online archives and
download from them. Organizers provided the list from Commons and free
media resources from Wikimedia Foundation (2015) . Each video enthusiast5
together with the writer, chose the footage, the music, the atmosphere,
etc… and made all the artistic decisions for their creations. Each team,
however, had its own dynamics.
Participants brought their own computers on which they had installed video
editing software. They made a digital copy of the footage and then
manipulated it with different programs, such as Magix Movie Edit Pro, Final
Cut Pro, and others. During the day, they faced many technical problems,
and needed assistance in making decisions in the creation of the videos or in
achieving a certain goal. All the teams that were formed during the day of
the marathon were cross-cultural consisting of participants coming from
different continents. During the day facilitators set up a YouTube channel
named Video Poetry Marathon (2015). The whole event lasted nine hours.6
The focus, in this article, is on the outreach of immigrant communities and
its benefits for archives while facilitating re-use. The videos created during
the VPM dealt with travels, life changes, immigration and maladies. Neither
do they try to bring the viewer back to the original footage, nor do they
hide the creative work of remixing archive material. The pre-existing
context of the footage dissolves to give way to the new narration. These
digital narratives potentially represent a national archive even though an
immigrant does the original poem or story. When dealing with national
collections, immigrants and their quest for identity could be the key in
understanding local culture and identity.
These video poems are representative of the memories of the artists. They
take shape from and give a visual interpretation in the combination of
multicultural instances: the poem, the footage, the music and the artistic
work that combines them all. These instances have different origins. In the
Sivuvalo group. 2015. Sivuvalo. Retrieved June 9, 2015, from http://sivuvalo.com/4
Wikimedia Foundation. (2015) “Commons: Free Media resources/Video.” http://5
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Free_media_resources/Video
Video Poetry Marathon, (2015) YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/6
UCjKKJa9SM2BON9YLrRhdJMA
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3. case of the poem “Infinito”, for example, the writer was Peruvian, the
video maker was Australian and the footage was from the Netherlands, USA
and Finland (See video ).7
Archives could see these works as interpretations of their own archival
material and make them part of their collections. But most importantly, by
hosting these works an archive could trace links and enrich the collection
and metadata with international and artistic insights that could have not
been part of the archive otherwise. This contextualization process is
fundamental to the archives because it gives new meaning to their holdings
and makes them relevant for today’s world.
As video tools get easier and friendlier for people to use, it is also possible
to be more inclusive in planning cultural interventions that propose new
working practices. Hence, to include marginalized communities and build
empathy with amateur video makers could help participatory archives make
a genuinely positive social impact.
By facilitating the legal re-use of their collections, archives themselves
support a creative practice from which they could benefit. Archivists and
media scholars could influence current remix practices by embracing them
and opening collaborative spaces for the creation and dissemination of the
results.
Even though migrants in media have been stereotyped, racially categorised,
criminalized, objectified and subjected to hate speech (Paulissen et al,
2014 ), within immigrants there are also many who support hackathons,8
such as artists, designers and developers. Therefore, endeavours that give
voice to migrants’ multifaceted narratives may in addition bring alternative
perspectives on their identities and richness, and ultimately contribute to a
more just society. The participation in media production projects of people
who have been excluded can often transform their self-perception, build
their confidence and self-esteem, and provide them with a social voice
(Dowmunt et al, 2007 ).9
Cultural interventions, such as the VPM, that allow for multicultural
encounters could be a way to research into these new practices and
formats. In many cases immigrants do not choose to move, but they are
political or economic situations in their countries that force them to
migrate. Once they are in their host countries, it is a challenge to integrate,
Dowsett, Guy. 2015. Infinito. Retrieved on August 25th from https://www.youtube.com/watch?7
v=9vLh8X300qQ
Paulissen, Vivian, Ruben Díaz Lopez, Thomas Roueché, and Susanne Mors. 2014. Remixing Europe.8
Migrants. Media. Representation. Imagery. 1st ed. Doc Next Network. http://
www.docnextnetwork.org/out-in-april-2014-remixing-europe/.
Dowmunt, Tony, Mark Dunford, and Nicole Van Hemert, eds. 2007. Inclusion Through Media. London:9
OpenMute.
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4. make friends, find employment and learn the language. This is why cultural
interventions that allow for multicultural encounters are necessary and
desired. According to Navas even when one has been pushed to the10
margins can actually do something productive within that space. Spaces,
such as a hackathon that motivate creative reuse and cross-cultural
encounters, could be an option that both opens possibilities to immigrants
and to archives.
Navas, Eduardo. 2012. Remix Theory. The Aesthetics of Sampling. Springer-Verlag. Germany10
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