The photographic archive in Special Collections has material that spans a period from the inception of photography to the present day, from fragile prints to digital format.
The urgency to restore the AV collections in UCT Libraries Special Collections is underscored by their critical role in documenting the history of struggle, and transition to, human rights and democracy in South Africa.
Our primary collections consist of archival holdings such as manuscripts, audiovisual archives, photographs and the UCT Historical Pamphlets and Photographs Collection.
Copyright is a limited-time monopoly. Which is a fancy way of saying that it doesn’t last forever. Eventually, it expires. Except when it doesn’t. How many things in South African archives have perpetual copyright? So very many.
The AV Archive (AVA) used to live in the basement of the Jagger Library. It was one of the first areas to be salvaged following the fire. As the water used to douse the flames accumulated in the basement, a decision was made to expedite...