Bak.ma
Reviewed by: Tuka Al-Sahlani
Review start: April 2, 2024
Site Link: https://bak.ma/home
Archive Link: http://archive.today/IJBIx
Data Sources
- Videos
- Audio
- Maps
Processes
- Indexing of audio-visual media
- Participatory feature (registered users can upload, annotate, or download content)
- Digital maps to visualize location of activism and protests
Presentation
The project is a web based video archive that appears to look like a desktop application. Users can view the videos by selecting a category or by browsing the videos once they pass the landing page. The landing page shows a moving image of a large protest with two buttons asking the user to select the language of preference Turkish or English.
Digital Tools Used
pan.do/ra: a free, open-source media archive software that allows users to provide online accessibility and preservation of the audio-visual data for anyone.(Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
Languages
- Turkish
- English
Review
bak.ma is a participatory video archiving site seeking to create “a living memory of the social movements” (About). As defined in the About page, the phrase bak.ma means “don’t look” in Turkish and its slogan was used in 2014 protests in Turkey. The project aims to create an autonomous archive where registered users can upload video/audio content of protest and social movements. Through a participatory and uncensored method, the project seeks to empower the general public and to serve as a “reference for activists, researchers, artists, and filmmakers” (FAQ)
The project does not have named authors or curators. Rather the archive is maintained by a collective, the “bak.ma digital media archive of social movements collective” (About), and “follows a collective labor strategy” (FAQ). This unique structure allows the public to take ownership of the archive and embodies the collective spirit of community and activism. In a video titled Why + How Do We Archive / AGIT, organizers are asked about gatekeeping and they respond that they do not delete videos unless the videos do not align with the intent of the archive of giving voice to social movements.
The archive allows users to sort the videos using 25 categories ranging from location, language, tags to technical categories such as clip length or hue. However, if one wants to sort the videos by Date for example, there are no clear date markers present in the title or the tags of the video, so the categories can be unhelpful at times. The site provides a detailed tutorial on how to upload videos and documents by users, but it does not mandate documentation or tagging, although it provides those options for users.
Bak.ma is a creative commons open resource project that is funded by donations. It is a “labor of love” project that opens the prospect for the public in general and activists, researchers, and filmmakers to locate and upload activist material for study, distribution, and adaptation. The autonomous nature of the project allows a safe space for users to share what they witness with the assurance of a community to support them and “see” them.
(The site is overwhelming despite the many categorizations. I did not understand the relevance of some of the videos in regards to the site’s premise as an archive of protest and social movements:e.g. a video titled Kool Thing.)
How does this project address information?
The information in this project is not analyzed or synthesized. It is a participatory automated community archive that avoids gatekeeping unless necessary for the unity of the project. The onus is on the user/browser to analyze the videos as they see fit.
How well does this project handle information?
The videos, audios, and documents can be overwhelming for the user. In 2018 international users ( users outside of Turkey) could upload content as well. This both expanded the project, but left certain information unclear to the general public. My suggestion would be for the collective to mandate metadata entry for each contribution to make the information easier for users to locate and benefit from.