Visual Archives - A Personal Connection to History Through the Stories of the People Who Experienced It

At the first presentation of the Greek Voices in Ireland archives, a project by the Hellenic Community of Ireland that is being recorded and edited by Crowdlink - The Experts in Audiovisual and Technical Production on the Island of Ireland, attendees included the Greek Ambassador to Ireland, H.E. Georgios Stilianopoulos; Executive Director of the Hellenic Community of Ireland, Stella Xenopoulou; cultural lexicographer Paddy Sammon; and Director, Growth and Strategy at Crowdlink, Rach Kinlay, among many more.

National Heritage Week is taking place in Ireland from 15 to 23 August 2026 and Crowdlink - The Experts in Audiovisual and Technical Production on the Island of Ireland are thrilled to be playing a part in an exciting project run by the Hellenic Community of Ireland. Many of our readers will know that our managing director, Theo Zioutos, is Greek, but you might not know that he sits on the Board of HCI. So when the idea arose for them to create an oral archive, and with our expertise in the area, he went a step further and suggested that they make a visual one, filming recordings of the eldest members of the community to hear their stories and preserve the experience and insights contained in them for generations to come.

About 25 minutes of initial recordings from Greek Voices in Ireland were screened at the HCI premises off Mountjoy Square last Sunday, 16 August, as part of the Heritage Week celebrations.They were excerpts from over 11 hours and 45 minutes of interviews already recorded with 13 people. The project expects to see 50 people interviewed and recorded by October of this year, and the footage will then be edited into short-form interviews with accompanying abstracts for research and cross-reference as searchable, discoverable documents. The academic aspect of the work is being overseen by oral historian and heritage consultant Dr Tomás Mac Conmara, who explained, "Where the real beauty is, where we have 10 interviews, 11 interviews, 15 interviews... When you actually bring those interviews together, they're more than the sum total of the individual interviews, they're this network of intersecting memories. When we can use Mario's story, Nico's story, whoever's story it is, and draw the connections between the subjects that are common and shared, then we learn more."

Oral historian and heritage consultant Dr Tomás Mac Conmara talking about the profound value of visual and oral archives

The leaders of this visual archive project are seeing something far deeper than biographies, they are observing the power of listening and viewing, and noting that the more we listen to each other, watch each other, the more we know about each other, helps us develop more empathy and sympathy for each other's perspective, leading to richer insights and deeper understanding. And this applies to society and organisations alike.

Whether you want to preserve your founder's inaugural speech in his own voice and words for the inspiration of coming generations of employees; a groundbreaking discovery so viewers can experience its full impact first hand; or training modules that you know will be required again and again, Crowdlink can record and edit your visual and audio material to provide you with an invaluable asset as you grow into the future. Whatever your sector or reasons for building your visual archive or media library, the best time to start is now. Contact us at rach@crowdlink.ie or on 083 897 5138 to chat it over.