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TRACCE no. 7 – by R. G. Bednarik

The 1997 IFRAO Meeting was held at Cochabamba, on 2 April 1997, as part of the Congreso Internacional de Arte Rupestre held by SIARB. The event was chaired by Roy Querejazu Lewis (President of SIARB).

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Minutes of the 1997 IFRAO meeting, Cochabamba, Bolivia (extract)

The 1997 IFRAO Meeting was held at Cochabamba, on 2 April 1997, as part of the Congreso Internacional de Arte Rupestre held by SIARB. The event was chaired by Roy Querejazu Lewis (President of SIARB).

The following associations were represented by their IFRAO delegates:

1. ARAPE (France)
2. AURA (Australia)
3. CeSMAP (Italy)
4. CIAR-SAA (Argentina)
5. CIARU (Uruguay)
6. ESRARA (USA)
7. SIARB (Bolivia)
8. Sociéte Préh. Ariège (France)

The following further member organisations were represented by proxies:

1. ACASPP (USA),
2. AARS (Sahara)
3. ANISA (Austria)
4. AARP (Portugal)
5. Mid-America (USA)
6. MRARS (Macedonia)
7. Orme dell’Uomo (Italy)
8. RASI (India)
9. SARARA (Southern Africa).

The meeting was also attended by the representatives of two prospective member associations, GIPRI
of Columbia and a Siberian organisation being established in Kemerovo, who attended as observers.
The following items were considered:

• Reports: a series of written reports from members were tabled, others were given verbally. The following reports were provided: Orme dell’Uomo (activities), Mid-America (Ripon congress tentatively in May 1999), CeSMAP, ARAPE (publications, 6000 copies of Unesco brochure), ESRARA (emphasis on indigenous involvement), AURA (became incorporated), SIARB, MRARS.
• Code of ethics, proposed by SIARB and AURA: to be modelled essentially on SIARB’s existing code and relevant parts of the Australian Burra Charter. AURA suggested long and short versions, and flexibility to account for regional differences was discussed. It was decided that a subcommittee of five be formed and be instructed to produce a first draft, and then circulate it for comment.The following delegates were elected to form this sub-committee: Bednarik, Consens, Hedden, Ricchiardi, Strecker.
• Strategies for collective international action: Unesco and ICOMOS were first discussed. ARAPE then suggested that the most effective means to gain support are press and Internet. AURA advocated a step-by-step text on dealing in a standardised way with specific local issues. It was emphasised that member organisations have to take initial actions, and the Convener was instructed to then assess whether local possibilities of action have been exhausted, before recommending international action.
• CeSMAP recommended that the temporary working group formed in Swakopmund be formalised as a permanent committee. AURA requested the inclusion of an Asian and a South American representative on this committee, suggesting Kumar and Strecker, in addition to Bahn, Seglie, Soleilhavoup, Pager and Swartz. The meeting approved this and ratified the permanent status of this committee.
• IFRAO World Wide Web page: IFRAO approved the location of its central Web page at CeSMAP in Pinerolo, Italy, to be administered in collaboration with the Convener.
• Groupe de réflexion sur les méthodes d’étude de l’art pariétal paléolithique: the Groupe has provided a letter stating that the objectives for which it was formed have been met and it has been dissolved.
• New members: in addition to the Kemerovo group, the Grupo de Investigación de Arte Rupestre Indígena (Columbia) and the Asociación Arqueológica Viguesa (Spain) notified IFRAO of their wish to join the Federation.
• Conservation issues in Portugal: publications on the Côa issue were briefly discussed.

These minutes were compiled by the IFRAO Convener, R. G. Bednarik

(extracted by TRACCE staff)

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