The Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation has signed a partnership with the Cinémathèque Suisse (Swiss National Film Archive) to preserve and digitise Africa’s audiovisual heritage.

The agreement was signed at CBAAC headquarters in Lagos by CBAAC director-general Aisha Augie and the director of the Cinémathèque Suisse, Vinzenz Hediger.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Augie said that the partnership signed during the official visit of Switzerland’s culture and interior minister, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, was expected to safeguard priceless cultural memories for future generations.

The partnership, formalised through a memorandum of understanding, is also aimed at strengthening professional training, research, staff exchanges, and technical collaboration in audiovisual preservation as Nigeria prepares to commemorate the 50th anniversary of FESTAC ’77 in 2027.

The three-year renewable agreement is expected to deepen collaboration in conservation, digitisation, archival research, training and knowledge exchange, while expanding global access to Africa’s rich cultural heritage.

Nigeria’s culture and tourism minister Hannatu Musawa, alongside senior officials from both countries, witnessed the signing ceremony.

Ms Augie described the partnership as a major milestone in CBAAC’s digitisation drive and preparations for the Golden Jubilee of FESTAC ’77.

“This partnership represents an important investment in preserving one of Africa’s most cherished memories. By combining our strengths, we are creating new opportunities to safeguard invaluable cultural collections, build professional capacity and ensure that the legacy of FESTAC ’77 and other important archival resources remain accessible to future generations,” she said.

Mr Hediger said the collaboration reflected the importance of global partnerships in protecting cultural heritage. According to him, heritage preservation is a shared global responsibility.

“We are honoured to work alongside CBAAC in developing sustainable preservation practices while strengthening professional exchange and contributing to the long-term protection of one of Africa’s most significant cultural collections.”

Under the agreement, both institutions will collaborate on developing digitisation workflows for CBAAC’s film, video and non-film collections, while supporting joint workshops, collaborative research, training fellowships and efforts to attract international support for heritage preservation.

(NAN)