The idea to establish an archive within the Department of Mass Media, St Anthony's College Shillong was brewed in conversations about the overflow of student productions which required a larger space to accomodate them. The idea was soon realised when our friend and colleague Tarun Bhartiya introduced our department to members of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) Japan who were immediately keen on supporting our vision to establish an audiovisual archive within the college which would be affiliated with the department. To this day, we remain grateful for that effort which served as the inception of The Northeast India AV Archive's long and steady journey to collect, preserve, study and revive audiovisual-material heritages found across the Northeastern region of India.
The Northeast India AV Archive was inaugurated on the 10th October, 2019, by the owner and curator of the Ever Living Museum, Mr Kyntiewbor War in the presence of Dr Rev Albert Longley, Principal, St Anthony’s College, Rev Fr Joby Joseph, Rector, St Anthony's College, the staff of the Department of Mass Media and the team members of The Northeast India AV Archive.
Today, it continues to operate to achieve its vision of safeguarding material and non-material culture and history, to disseminate the importance of preserving and reviving indigenous cultures which are being swiftly assimilated into wider conventions and to extend the efforts of SPF Japan in peace-building among communities. The Northeast India AV Archive is a repository of newsreels, films, photographs, newspapers, documents, audio recordings, and the akin, which have been retrieved by our conscious effort, or which have been contributed by people for safekeeping and preservation.