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Collection buildingPolicies, curatorial decisions,and

other considerations

Elif Rongen-KaynakçiFilm Collections Department

TAPE Glasgow, 13 may 2008erongen@filmmuseum.nl

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Archives of the Filmmuseum

• Film collection:7+ million meters of nitrate

45 million meters of acetate (around 40.000 film items)

• Film-related collections: Around 35.000 posters

and 500.000 stills

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What is the real definition of your collection?

• General definition: collection = holdings (everything, on every support)

• The core (museal) collection is usually hinted at by the mission of your institute.  

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Filmmuseum mission is:

‘…to preserve, present and research the Dutch cinematographic heritage…’

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Film Collection (all holdings):

• Complete film holdings: various formats, various contents, various status (passive preservation)

• Museal Collection: consciously built up through active preservation + acquisition (or exchange) along the lines of collection policy.

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Remember that…

… a film archive does not hold copyright of the material it holds.

- Rights need only to be cleared for using the material.

- A film archive gives public access to its holdings (for study, research, etc.)

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The responsibility of the archivist is to keep the images, care for them properly and manage them in a way that they are retrievable. The archivist is not the user

of the images.

However, our strategy of promoting the archival image is by showing it!

This turns us into users/producers.- Educational- Programming- Academic research- Creative

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Building blocks for your collection

• Random collections

• Acquired collections

• Consciously built collections

- Different types of donor agreements

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Selection is always necessary!

• Subject matter

• Format

• Purpose of the collection

• Scope of the collection

• Focus on preservation or acces

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However…

• …be careful not to be too rigid to exclude too much of what you have, and not to make a “shopping list”.

• …do look more deeply into your holdings, to form your collection policy on practical and realistic grounds.

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For example…

• The Bits&Pieces collection:started in 1992 (by Peter Delpeut)arrived at B&Pnr. 540;more than 6 hours of preserved film.

Results: B&P are used in compilation films such as Film Ist.(by

Gustav Deutsch), big show with DJ Spooky in the Louvre, etc. B&P form one of our most internationally appreciated and well-known sub-collections.

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Our policy is…• Based on intellectual curiosity, non-conformist• Geared to show, BUT questioning the ideas of what is

presentable and how• Broad and inclusive; in defining the Dutch film heritage, we

consciously include anything that is shown on Dutch grounds, regardless of country of production.

• Sharing with the audiences; showing the decay. As few interventions to the film as possible

• Respecting the historical context in which films were made, distributed, shown, etc. Always showing silent film with music, always restoring the original colors to the print.

• Flexible criteria, constant re-evaluation; returning and revising former decisions, due to new insights.

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Collection management is…

• …about containing the volume while at the same time building/growing/improving your collection.

• a dilemma of quantity vs. quality.

• always based on selection.

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Be realistic when selecting…• Can you really choose

before seeing?• How much material can you

accommodate?• How much can you process?• How much can/will you

use?- in terms of agreements to use:

copyright, etc.

- what are your access channels?

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Safety film holdings:

• Hollywood films 1980 to 2007

The target is to:

reduce the volume, improve the data and check quality, in relation to the collection policy.

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Nitrate film holdings:

The Filmmuseum is the right place to keep all the nitrate film in the NL: Take in every roll of nitrate that is donated.

- Examine/research

- Registrate/document

- Evaluate/preserve

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Nitrate collection of ca. 2000 cans:

Challenges at first:

• Lack of information & order. Where to begin? What to prioritize?

• Lack of resources: not enough people, not enough space. What to do?

• Lack of time: material already in deterioration. Cannot wait to optimize the conditions.

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Solutions:• New method to guarantee continuity• Inventory using simple form/simple

database. • Practical approach: rather check

condition quickly than to handle with care

• Temporary numbers. Less reliable but standardized data

• Database (cross-referencing /gradual improvement); curatorial workflow

• Bringing together missing pieces• Full registration to central catalog

only when complete.

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Ordernummer: xxx-2005 (Mrs. A. Emmer)Name: Date: Temp. can number: AEZ…DIVAcat: Fbviewing: Vaultnr: TITLE:On print [ ] Handwritten [ ] 1st titlecard [ ] Given title [ ] Country: Director: Year:Company:

[ ] Fiction : Drama[ ] Comedy [ ] Animation [ ] Other :[ ] Non-fiction: Docu [ ] Newsreel [ ] Commercial [ ] Other : Negative[ ] Positive [ ]Format : Image [ ] Sound [ ] Image&sound [ ]Full aperture [ ] Normal sound aperture [ ]Color [ ] B&W [ ] Tinting [ ] Toning [ ]Nitrate [ ] Safety [ ]Head title. [ ] Tail title.[ ] Language: Intertitles [ ] Subtitles [ ] Language: Edgemarks : Negative edgemark:Meters (aprox.) : Number of rolls inside can:  Quality :Stock: Perforation: Mold:

Emulsion: Stickiness: Rust: Information on the org can:

Keywords: Description / remarks

Nitraatregistratieformulier. Nederlands Filmmuseum, Afdeling Filmcollectie >>>

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Results:• Volume is now controlled: completely deteriorated

material is destroyed, irrelevant material sent away (other formats, collection-irrelevant material)

• Content is partially controlled: we have an idea of the collection (strong on the ‘10s and ‘20s, many German, Italian and American films, some unique Dutch material.)

• New discoveries on their way; possibility of active search, and also possibility of starting the international research and collaboration.

• Already processing parts of the collection on different levels.

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More results:

• Beyond the Rocks; already restored; creating lots of public awareness on archival issues.

• More people bringing in nitrate donations, more trust

• Involvement of many colleagues: intern(ation)al awareness.

• DVD as an additional platform of activities and holdings

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Curatorial work:

• Registration/identification/documentation

• Research/comparison (co-operation, information exchange; to avoid unnecessary restoration, confusion about versions, etc.)

• Evaluation (assessing the relevance of the item within various contexts)

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Curatorial advice

• destroy

• keep in vault (passive preservation)

• duplicate (and keep all elements)

• send away (exchange)

• restore (active preservation)

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Collaboration

• For knowledge• For finances• For awareness

Etc.

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Final advice:

• Do not assume that the material will be kept elsewhere, your print might be the best one surviving.

• Do not discard your print as merely a projection copy; it might serve as an important reference during preservation.