National portraits: Works in progress (1)

I refer to the item headed MP Calls For National Portrait Gallery (February 5), and the subsequent comments and discussion on timesofmalta.com and various letters to the editor. The National Archives of Malta has no intention of entering into any controversy on this matter. The following is being referred for the information of all and sundry.

It is worth noting that on March 22, 2004 the then President of Malta Guido de Marco inaugurated the National Memory Project at the Legal Documentation Section of the National Archives housed at the Banca Giuratale in Mdina. The event marked the start of an extensive and ambitious project aimed at bringing under one roof a living memory of Malta's history and culture, to serve as a tribute to all those who contributed to the development of Maltese society.

The project consists of three complementary phases: the National Portrait Archive, the National Picture Archive and the Film and Sound Archive. The inauguration in 2004 made it possible for photographer Tony S. Mangion to exhibit to the public portraits which were taken over a number of years. Two publications include photos and biographical details of the personalities who hail from all aspects and strata of Maltese society. The exhibition is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 9 and 2 a.m. and on Mondays also from 3 to 7 p.m. Entrance is free of charge. It is estimated that an average of 10,000 persons visited the exhibition annually in the last four years. The exhibition is available for organised school visits, workshops related to the theme and cultural tours. During 2007 the gallery was extended following sponsorship by Bank of Valletta. The National Archives plans to expand on this initiative and, using digital technology, add more images to the collection.

Concurrently with this, the National Archives has managed to organise its own photographic collections and start the digitisation process. This initiative is managed under the National Picture Archive banner and coordinated by photographer Kevin Casha. The public will soon start benefiting from this project through the facility of online consultation of these images.

The initial work on the film and sound holdings has started. The National Archives had already announced the donation of the Stan Fraser World War II Film collection. The collection was digitised on the initiative of Veronica Galea and now forms part of the third phase of the National Memory Project.

Finally, it is important to clarify that the National Portrait Archive does not in any way duplicate, compete or has any connection with any other initiative of a National Portrait Gallery. The aim of the National Archives is the creation of a digital photography collection and not a collection of paintings in the traditional sense.

The National Portrait Archive will be developed using the archival holdings we already possess. This will make it possible to have thousands of images readily available both on-site and off-site. The National Archives is more than willing to support and collaborate with parallel initiatives and provide its expertise to any initiative that aims at preserving Malta's history. This is in line with its legal remit under the National Archives Act (V, 2005) to "... preserve the collective memory of the Maltese nation".