Audiovisual Preservation Exchange (APEX)

Every year APEX takes a group of MIAP students combined with alumni, faculty, and friends/colleagues in the profession to support preservation efforts in global archives interested in solutions to challenging infrastructures.  APEX seeks to create meaningful international networks of audiovisual archivists, collection managers, educators, and students through shared work on endangered media and film collections. In the spirit of exchange, our teams work side-by-side to carry out projects identified by hosting institutions. APEX is not a service, “help” or “saving archives” program. We define the program as a collaborative and transformative memory project based on sharing and learning. We work enthusiastically in activating and honoring local knowledge and encouraging horizontal collaboration.

APEX Guadalajara (Mexico) 2025

The 2025 Audiovisual Preservation Exchange (APEX) will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico between May 26 - June 6, 2025. NYU MIAP students, recent graduates, and alumni will be working alongside employees and students at the Guadalajara International Film Festival Cinematheque; the Visual and Sound Archive of the Jalisco State Public Library; and the Department of Image and Sound of Universidad de Guadalajara. Participants will be working with host institutions to assess collections with a variety of audiovisual formats and cataloging analog, optical, and digital holdings. A variety of public workshops and masterclasses will be held as well, covering topics such as digitization, mixed media, funding, and more. 

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APEX Athens and Syros (Greece) 2024

MIAP and the Archipelago Network hosted APEX Greece May 22-31, 2024. MIAP students and select archivists joined Athens and Syros participants to preserve Super 8 and 16mm films of Greek and international amateur cinema, along with regional TV and radio broadcasts. Participants partially digitized this collection, and improved cataloging methods and accessibility for both archives. Public programming including workshops and screenings were also held in Syros, Greece. Realized in collaboration with Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, Of the Anonymous – Amateur Audiovisual Material Archive, Aigaio Radio & TV, AVP, Urbanski, Image Permanence Institute, and the Municipality of Syros-Ermoupolis.

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APEX Quito (Ecuador) 2023

APEX Quito took place from May 21 to June 2, 2023 in Quito, Ecuador. The program was organized in collaboration with the Cinemateca Nacional Ulises Estrella and the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (UASB). Four teams of students, archivists, and staff members worked together in the following areas: cataloging systems and workflows, film preservation workflows and inventories, magnetic media collection management and digitization, and development of workflows for the CONAIE (Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador) collection. The work with the CONAIE collection was of significant importance as this deposit was the result of multiple negotiations between indigenous communities and the Cinemateca. Other activities included public workshops, screenings, and the participation in the "Jornadas de Archivos Audiovisuales" (Audiovisual Archives Colloquium) organized by UASB. It was a very active week of exchange, think tanks, and conversation with colleagues from the Andean region: Perú, Bolivia, and Colombia with a very successful turnaround and local participation.

APEX Virtual (Mexico, Honduras, Brazil) 2021

The NYU MIAP Audiovisual Preservation Exchange (APEX) 2021 edition took place virtually, from May 27 to June 2, 2021. We held a series of online workshops with Video nas Aldeias (Video in the Villages) and Americas Media Initiative / Promedios de Comunicacion Comunitaria, both indigenous media collectives from Brazil and Mexico, respectively. These workshops were made possible thanks to funding from a partnership with NYU Bobst Library and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

We also did an assessment of the personal collection of Professor Jorge Ruffinelli, a pioneer scholar in Latin American Cinema and Literature studies in the US, now retired from Stanford University.  We also held an online session to collaborate on scanning technical solutions for the Laboratório Universitário da Preservação Audiovisual at Universidade Federal Fluminense (Niterói, Brazil) and Cinemateca de Bogotá, Archivo Vivo (Colombia, APEX 2013).

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APEX San Juan (Puerto Rico) 2019

APEX Puerto Rico took place from May 27 to June 7, 2019 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We had a record number of institutions wanting to partner. We hope that the common dialogue and exchange through the various open activities planned will turn into long-term collaborations throughout the islands.  We worked mostly in San Juan and a small group visited Vieques Island.

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APEX Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 2018

APEX Rio 2018 took place from June 3 to 15, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Students, faculty, and graduates from NYU's MIAP program collaborated with colleagues at four institutions in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói, Brazil: the Archive of the City of Rio (Arquivo Geral da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro), the Ministry of Culture's Audiovisual (Archive Centro Técnico do Audiovisual - CATV), the Cinemateque of the Museum of Modern Art (Cinemateca do Museu de Arte Moderna - MAM), and Federal Fluminense University (Universidad Federal Fluminense - UFF). APEX activities were preceded by a two-day summit (June 1-2) in Rio to celebrate and assess ten years of APEX projects across cultural heritage organizations in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ghana, Spain, and Uruguay, and to set common goals for future collaborations. 

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APEX Santiago (Chile) 2016

APEX 2016 took place during the weeks of May 23 and May 30 in Santiago, Chile. APEX is a collaboration between NYU’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) Program, the AMIA student chapter at NYU, our partners in Chile—Biblioteca Nacional de Chile (National Library) and Señal Tres la Victoria (community television station). This year marks the fourth APEX organized by NYU students.

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APEX Accra (Ghana) 2010

APEX in Ghana 2010 partnered with the Real Life Documentary Festival, the West African Documentary Forum and NYU in Ghana to hold a series of audiovisual preservation events in Accra, Ghana. We also worked closely with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, TV 3/GAMA and the National Film and Television Institute to carry out the events, and we are grateful for their assistance. We are also grateful to our supporters who made this year's trip and events possible: the NYU Department of Cinema Studies , the NYU Office of Global Programs , Jim Lindner (Media Matters ), Mick Newnham (National Film and Sound Archive of Australia), and MacDonald & Associates. Also thanks to Jonah Volk (MIAP '10) for contributing his research on preservation of file-based video.

The APEX in Ghana 2010 team was again led by NYU Professor Mona Jimenez, and was comprised of Kara Van Malssen (NYU), Ishumael Zinyengere (UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), and Jennifer Blaylock (NYU).

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APEX Buenos Aires (Argentina) 2009

A team of film experts and archivists from the United States under the direction of Professor Dan Streible traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina in May 2009 to help the Museo del Cine preserve it's orphan films.

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APEX Accra (Ghana) 2009

Professor Mona Jimenez and Research Specialist Kara Van Malssen (MIAP '06) returned to Accra, Ghana from 12 to 29 May 2009. They were joined this year by Jennifer Blaylock (MIAP '10), Mick Newnham (Senior Research Scientist at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia), and Ishumael Zinyengere (Audiovisual Archivist at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda). Following on the successful short worshop, and site visits conducted the previous year, this year the team conduced a week-long workshop called "Preserving Our Audiovisual Heritage: Film and Video Collections." 26 participants from institutions in the area attended, including staff from Ghana Broadcasting CorporationMetro TVTV3TV AfricaCostal TVthe National Film and Television Institute, and the Cinema Department of the Information Services Department under the Ministry of Information.

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APEX Ghana (2008 - ongoing)

Since 2008, APEX Ghana has aimed to promote Ghanaian audiovisual archives through collaboration and knowledge exchange between Ghanaian archivists, MIAP students and faculty, and our respective affiliated professional networks. Over the years, the exchange has produced a variety of exciting activities: workshops for local practitioners in Ghana and abroad, internships placements for MIAP student interns at Ghanaian institutions, at least one Fulbright Fellowship, and the creation of an audio digitization lab at the University of Ghana's Institute for African Studies Archive. These activities have resulted in increased access to Ghanaian audiovisual heritage for teaching, learning, and scholarship, both today and in the future.

MORE (APEX Ghana 2008)