Blinken OSA Archivum at the 34th ICARUS Convention: Engaging with 21st-Century Archival Challenges

Colleagues from Blinken OSA Archivum participated in the 34th ICARUS Convention, held on May 12–14, 2025, at the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture in Budapest. Hosted by the National Archives of Hungary, the event focused on how archives can respond to the evolving challenges of the 21st century, specifically global migration and sustainability.

The Archivum’s Chief Archivist, Csaba Szilágyi, delivered a presentation titled “Welcome to the Archives: Creating a Safe Space for People and Records on the Move,” while further staff also joined the convention’s discussions and events. As part of the official program, participants visited the Blinken OSA Archivum on May 12, providing an opportunity for international exchange and a closer look at archival collections and practices.

Szilágyi’s talk explored the vital role of archives in documenting and preserving the experiences of displaced persons. He emphasized that personal documents, eyewitness accounts, mobile data, and materials collected by NGOs are crucial to understanding refugee journeys, from displacement to resettlement.

He argued that traditional archival institutions must evolve by revisiting collections through a refugee-centered lens and integrating community-driven documentation. Motivated by both professional and ethical responsibility, archivists must adopt more inclusive practices that empower refugees as record creators and amplify their voices. Drawing on case studies from the OSA Archivum, Szilágyi illustrated how the “sense of responsibility” can be transformed into “a practice of hospitality” by creating archival spaces that are safe, inclusive both for migration records and people inscribed in them, and in which dominant narratives around displacement can be contested.