Message on World Day for Audiovisual Heritage
by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO
27 October 2010


世界音像遗产日的致辞
联合国教科文组织总干事 伊琳娜•博科娃
2010年10月27日


Audiovisual records – film, video, radio and recorded sound material – mirror human creativity and the living fabric of our cultures. They not only preserve in space and time priceless testimonies of our history but also encourage cultural dialogue and better understanding of different cultures and perspectives. In this International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, saving and savouring our audiovisual heritage, the theme of this fourth day for Audiovisual Heritage, assumes a special relevance.


音像制品 – 电影、录像、广播、录音材料 – 折射出人类的创造力，是活的人类文化织体。音像制品不仅跨越时间和空间记录了极其珍贵的历史见证，同时也能促进文化间对话，更好地理解不同的文化和观点。今年是国际文化和睦年，因此第四个世界音像遗产日的主题：保护和享用你的音像藏品，具有特别的现实意义。


Yet savouring this heritage is conditional on its survival. The world’s audiovisual heritage is endangered. Too much of it has already been lost through neglect of its value, chemical decay or technological obsolescence. Its disappearance would represent an irremediable impoverishment of the memory of the world.


享用这一遗产的前提是要将它们保存下来。世界音像遗产正濒临危境，由于对其价值的无知，或由于化学腐蚀，或因为技术陈旧，我们已经失去了太多的音像遗产。这些遗产的消失是世界记忆不可补救的损失。


Can we contemplate the eclipse of seminal moments in our history that we have the power to preserve: the first moon landing in 1969 or the walk to freedom of Nelson Mandela after his release from prison in 1990? These are engraved in the minds of those who witnessed them at the time, but will future generations have the chance be able to experience them with the same sense of immediacy?


在我们有能力保护音像遗产的时候，一些人类历史上重要时刻的记载却黯然消失：1969 年人类首次登上月球、1990 年纳尔逊•曼德拉从监狱获释走向自由……，这不应该引起我们深思吗？这些景象印刻在了当时目睹者的脑海里，可后代人还能像亲历者那样感受这些重要时刻吗？


Audiovisual heritage is by nature fragile. UNESCO, in partnership with the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archive Associations, and heritage bodies around the world, has taken a leading role to preserve and share these ephemeral documents.


音像遗产从本质上说是脆弱易损的。为此，教科文组织与音像档案协会协调理事会以及世界各地的遗产机构开展合作，发挥了主导作用，保护和共享这些寿命短暂的人类文献。


UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme was launched to safeguard valuable documentary heritage and to raise awareness about its inestimable value for present and future generations. The Memory of the World Register, established in 1997, contains close to 200 examples of documentary heritage, including audiovisual, deemed of universal value.


教科文组织发起《世界记忆计划》就是为了保护这些宝贵的文献遗产，提高当代人和后代人对文献遗产难以估量的价值的认识。1997 年建立的《世界遗产名录》收录了近200 项文献遗产的样本，包括被认为具有普遍价值的音像遗产。


To safeguard the world’s audiovisual heritage is to preserve our collective memory, and to ensure its transmission to future generations. We must understand the past to shape a common future founded on dialogue and understanding. On this Fourth World Day, I invite Member States, National Commissions, non-governmental organizations and public and private institutions to promote public awareness and recognition of the significance of the audiovisual heritage and to support efforts to preserve it as a testimony to future generations.


保护世界音像遗产就是保护我们的集体记忆，以确保当代人与后代人之间的传承。只有了解历史，我们才能在对话和理解的基础上，构建我们共同的未来。值此第四个世界音像遗产日，我请会员国、各国全委会、非政府组织、公共和私营机构努力提高公众的觉悟，认识音像遗产的重要意义，协助保存音像遗产，并将其作为历史的见证传递给后代人。