Karabakh Conflict Archive

The aim of the archive

Conciliation Resources and a network of partners worked on this project to create an archive of alternative and diverse source material that would enable informed dialogue within (and eventually between) societies about the future, based on what happened in the past.

The idea came from discussions about preserving the unique interview material collated during the making of the Parts of a Circle films. There were also broader concerns among civil society peacebuilders about the need to preserve digital copies of materials about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict that were in danger of being damaged or lost.

Project participants wanted to produce and systematise collections of archival source materials representing a range of experiences that span the conflict divide. In the long term, these could ultimately be used in a variety of ways – outreach, education, discussion and dialogue between different groups – to enable the Armenian and Azerbaijani public to gain a more nuanced understanding of the multiple perspectives on the conflict.

The archiving process

The archiving process involved mapping potential materials, agreeing a mechanism and methodology to create a common archive and training in archiving methodology. It was agreed that the project would initially focus on two areas: missing people, and political activism and unrest related to the conflict from 1988 to 1990.

Following a common methodology, groups in different locations collated digital copies of archive materials, inputting contextual descriptions of over 850 items into an inventory.

This was a challenging process. This kind of systematic archiving work requires a great amount of time and attention to detail. It was difficult to sustain the momentum, finding the resources to continue expanding the archive beyond the initial phase, and to agree issues of access and end use. It could also be hard to get people to donate their personal archives to the project, and working with families of missing people had a profound emotional impact on those involved.

The future of the archive

The project strengthened relationships among a group of Armenian and Azerbaijani partners, and improved their skills and knowledge in archiving and dealing with the past. It created a basis for other projects that followed. This included one project collating digital open-source materials on both sides following the war in 2020, and another (led by the teams that produced the Parts of a Circle films) recording and archiving new oral history interviews covering the first and second Karabakh wars.

Following a hiatus due to the second Karabakh war in 2020, partners have resumed work collating new collections of interviews. Discussions are ongoing about possible approaches to public outreach and discussion of the materials beyond a small group.

The Karabakh Conflict Archive is not currently publicly accessible, but a summary of the initiative is available on the Conciliation Resources website.

Partners

• Internews Azerbaijan
• Media Initiatives Centre
• Peace Dialogue
• Public Union Humanitarian Research
• Stepanakert Press Club
• Swisspeace

Photograph by Gulnar Salimova