The outline programme is now available for BISA 20th Anniversary Conference 2026 being held in M Shed, Bristol.
THURSDAY 14th MAY
Registration
Welcome and opening remarks
Update on Sounds of the South West project
Katie Scaife and Heather Millward (Sounds of the South West Project Managers, Bristol City Council)
Parallel session - Option A
Planning a sound digitisation project with Adam Tovell (Head of Sound and Audiovisual Preservation, British Library)
Parallel session - Option B
Sound archives and creative reuse, with Marcus Smith on podcasting and John Merion Rea on his installation Atgyfodi, followed by discussion chaired by Will René
Lunch
Presentations: Approaches to collecting sound heritage
Ethical approaches to field recording and archiving oral histories (Riah Naief, Listen Gallery) and challenges in crowdsourced sound heritage archives (Dr Pinar Yelmi, University of Leeds)
Break
Roundtable: Balancing rights and online access
Reflection: 20 years of BISA
Close of day one
Delegates are encouraged to join the committee for a meal and drinks (not included, details to be confirmed)
FRIDAY 15th MAY
Tour of Bristol Archives (Limited Space)
Welcome at M Shed
Presentations: Recent work in sound archiving
Materiality and embodiment: a a phenomenological reappraisal of digital sound archiving (Zhuolin Li, University of Leicester) and a manual for the restoration of the sound of amateur films (Jean-Baptiste Masson)
Break
Panel discussion: AI, ethics and sustainability
With Carl Davies (Senior Curator, BBC), David Govier (Sound Archivist, Manchester Central Library), and Dr Hannah James Louwerse (Newcastle University Oral History Collective)
Break (lunch not included)
BISA Annual General Meeting
Thanks and close of day two