Do you know where you are?
The Archives!
Do you know what that is?
Yes!
This exchange might be overheard at the Historical Archives of the European Union on any given morning, thanks to the regular stream of young visitors who come to take part in the Archives’ education programme. Designed for kids and tailored to levels from kindergarten through highschool, the programme welcomes hundreds of children and young adults each year from Florentine schools and beyond.
To celebrate International Archives Day 2022, the Archives decided to ask some of our young visitors to explain their understanding of what an Archives is, and share their replies in a video.
We also interviewed the staff involved in the important work of making sure that children understand the importance of archives in the preservation of historical memory, be it personal or collective.
Interested people can find out more about initiatives for international archives week across the globe by following the hashtags #IAW2022 and #ArchivesAreYou, the theme of this year’s day.
For more information about the Historical Archives of the European Union, take a look at this five-part explanatory playlist.