Page 15 - AHATA

Thursday 18 april 2024 locAl
A10

The Aruba Collection offers a glance into Aruban history, one click away!

(Oranjestad)—This week have shared their collec-
marked a huge accom- tions of old photos of rela-
plishment for Aruban histo- tives that have either vis-
rians and archivists, as the ited or work at the refinery
National Library of Aruba during the early 1920/30s,
(BNA), announced that offering a different glance
they, in collaboration with of the Aruban landscape,
The Internet Archive, have and taking us back in time
created an online platform to a place where Aruba
in which people from all was experiencing its first
around the globe can ac- stages of industrial devel-
cess the history and culture opment.
of Aruba. Containing over
100,000 files so far, the Aru- 3D scans of ancient arti-
ba Collection holds docu- facts are also a project that
ments, photos, and even is currently being devel-
3D images that date back oped at the BNA. In collab-
hundreds—or even thou- oration with 1403 with the
sands of years. Brenchie’s lab, they started
creating 3D images of an-
Aruba Today sat down with cient artifacts, offering an
Mr. Peter Scholing from the entire view of the object
BNA and Edrick Croes from from all angles. This can be
the national archives of tures submitted from the they continue to uncover found as well on the web-
Aruba (ANA) to talk about time when the first refinery more random pieces of lost A few years ago, the BNA site.
their mission regarding the LAGO opened on Aruba, records—some even by campaigned for people to
(digital) Aruban collection, and the island saw a boom accident. bring their own collection There are hundreds of doc-
and the types of docu- in migration from different of old documents or pho- uments that you can find
ments they currently have parts of the Caribbean and Through collaborative ef- tos through their program and read, all ranging in lan-
and continue to receive the US. forts with 11 separate en- called “Trece” (bring) that guages like Papiamento,
throughout the years form tities, the collection data could be stored in the ar- Dutch, English, and Span-
all around the world. Scholing and Croes men- base was set up to offer the chives of Aruba. This way ish. The national library is
tioned that one of the main visitor an accessible expe- it creates a pathway for interested in digitalizing all
There are thousands of dif- challenges about this proj- rience navigating the rich the new generation to feel of their files, as well as those
ferent files in the Aruba ect was the fact that histori- deposit of the database. more connected to their found in the Netherlands.
Collection, including docu- cal documents and stories The database acts as a cultural heritage and also This was especially impor-
ments ranging from earlier about Aruba have been hub where materials and inspire them to keep pre- tant during the pandemic,
settlements in the colonial scattered all over the world documents housed under serving the fragile, yet im- when they realized that
era, slavery on the islands, over the past hundreds of these different entities can portant files of our island’s many people were starting
the families that have years, and so it has been a be found right under one stories. to use their already existing
come and gone through- continuous effort to search website domain. These digital database all over
out hundreds of years, to for those lost stories and entities include the BNA, The archivists have also em- the world.
recipes on traditional Aru- to link missing pieces to in- ANA, UNOCA, the national phasized about the contri-
ban cooking, digital copies complete puzzles. For them museum (MANA), Monu- bution that tourists have The collection can be found
of old (and discontinued) it has also been an adven- mentenfonds, University of had on the growth of the on www.coleccion.aw
newspapers, and even pic- ture at the very least, as Aruba and more. collection, as many visitors

Aruba to me

ORANJESTAD — You are back and we would like to portrait you! By inviting you to send
us your favorite vacation picture while enjoying our Happy Island.

Complete the sentence: Aruba to me is ……. Send your picture with that text (including
your name and where you are from) to: news@arubatoday.com and we will publish
your vacation memory. Isn’t that a special way to keep your best moments alive?
Please do note: By submitting photos, text or any other materials, you give permission
to The Aruba Today Newspaper, Caribbean Speed Printers and any of its affiliated
companies to use said materials, as well as names, likeness, etc. for promotional pur-
poses without compensation.
Last but not least: check out our website, Instagram and Facebook page! Thank you
for supporting our free newspaper, we strive to make you a happy reader every day
again.
For today we received a lovely message from our awesome visitors John and Stepha-
nie Hart from Lumberton, NJ, USA.

They wrote to us saying: “Our 2nd home away from home! 30 years and counting...”

Thank you for sending us this wonderful message sharing what Aruba means to you
with us and our readers!q