Those of us who inhabit the Pacific region have a shared history – of colonisation, of trade, of missionary endeavour, and, in many cases, of war. Pacific nation states have links to most of these historical situations. A workshop held in Sydney at the end of October aimed to explore these connections, and potential nominations from this region to the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme’s Asia-Pacific (MOWCAP) and International registers.

The workshop, held at History House in Macquarie Street, brought together attendees from Kiribati, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu with managers of Pacific Islands collections in Canberra and Sydney. It was organised by the International Centre for Documentary Heritage in Cheongju, Republic of Korea, and the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Committee.

Over two days of presentations and discussions, the workshop revealed some exciting possibilities for enhancing the profile of our region, and the Small Island Developing States within it in particular, in the international documentary heritage ecosystem. This was greatly assisted by the participation in the workshop by Joie Springer, formerly of the Memory of the World Secretariat in UNESCO Paris, and currently Chair of the UNESCO Memory of the World International Advisory Committee’s Register Sub-Committee.

Participants learned more about the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme and its nomination process, and how to prepare effective submissions that will ultimately be inscribed on the Asia-Pacific and International registers; and gained a better understanding of the collections held both in the island nations of the Pacific and corresponding collections here in Australia.

The third day of the workshop was devoted to site visits to view original documents in the State Library of New South Wales; presentations on the work of the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Languages (PARADISEC) at its office in the Conservatorium of Music; and presentations in the Wansolmoana Gallery of the Australian Museum, and on the Museum’s Pasifika Collections and Engagement.

The workshop provided a wonderful opportunity to build the networks that will strengthen our capacity to engage with regional issues involving our documentary heritage collections.