Brazil's National Archive seeks VHS donations to digitise 10,000 tapes

The National Archive of Brazil has launched a public campaign to collect VHS‑player equipment for the digitisation of an audiovisual collection of roughly 10,000 tapes. The archive says the tapes contain historic political, social and cultural material that remains only in analog form, and that the scarcity of working VCRs – a technology no longer manufactured – threatens the long‑term preservation of the content.

Officials note that many existing VCRs are damaged and that legal and administrative hurdles make the purchase of used equipment difficult. By encouraging collectors, companies and private individuals to donate functional units, the archive hopes to increase its capacity to reproduce and transfer the recordings to digital platforms for researchers and the public.

Interested donors can contact the archive via the provided email address to arrange the donation.