ASEAN launches digital archive of region’s cultural heritage

The first digital archive of the valuable historical cultural heritage of ASEAN Member States (AMS) was launched today. The ASEAN Cultural Heritage Digital Archive (ACHDA) website showcases over 160 digitised heritage items from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The website allows visitors to have an in-depth look into the collections of museums, galleries, and libraries through three-dimensional (3D) models, images, audio recordings and valuable videos of cultural heritage of the three countries participating in the project’s first phase.

The project is supported by the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF). Japan Ambassador to ASEAN Akira Chiba further mentioned that “anyone can access many cultural heritage easily and instantly through this ACHDA website anytime and anywhere.” The first phase of the project began in 2018 and the second phase, scheduled to start in mid-2020, will digitise collections from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam. All the AMS will be covered by the project in succeeding years.