Preservation in Argentina

You have for sure heard about the financial, social, and political
crisis in Argentina, but you probably cannot imagine how much does
it affect cultural heritage. Maybe it is necessary to tell which the
situation was before: I must mention ignorance, bureaucratic
procedures and lack of public resources devoted to preservation
programs. With no resources and only a tiny group of professionals
involved in preservation, it has not been easy for archives,
libraries and museums to improve preservation policies.

Even though, a great deal has been achieved during the last decade
with the assistance of the social sector. Fundacion Patrimonio
Historico and other non profit organizations helped to sort out lack
of public funds, supporting preservation education programs and
training staff in institutions. Most of the human and financial
resources involved in each project were hardly raised among its own
members or provided by local partners: individuals, companies and
institutions.

Unfortunately, local sponsorship is not possible anymore because,
within the current crisis, individuals, companies and institutions
are unable to support even themselves. The entire society has been
pushed to an extremely painful restriction in the use of their own
money. Of course there are no more private funds available for
preservation programs!.

It is evident that from now on most institutions will have nothing
to spend in preservation. Despite that, collections in libraries,
archives and museums are still there, in desperate need of care. To
stop preservation activities means that many collections will not
survive.

Fundacion Patrimonio Historico informs that cultural heritage in
Argentina is in serious danger. We are looking for financial
assistance to continue running the current projects. If you can
help, please consider to make a contribution. Even a tiny
contribution makes a big difference.

If you wish to know more about us, please click:
<URL:http://www.patrimoniohistorico.org.ar> If you wish to make a
contribution, please e-mail to fundacion [at] patrimoniohistorico__org__ar

Susana Meden
Directora de Programas
Fundacion Patrimonio Historico


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 15:55
                 Distributed: Friday, February 8, 2002
                       Message Id: cdl-15-55-003
                                  ***