ABSTRACT

This report examines the collaborative implications in the revitalisation of indigenous music within a contemporary South African setting. In 2012 ILAM commenced with repatriating Hugh Tracey recordings to communities and the families of performers he had recorded. The main reason for repatriation was to follow the ethical turn adopted by museums and archives across the globe since the early 2000s. As a member of staff at Rhodes University, I was part of this project. However, instead of only returning the recordings to the families of the musicians I decided to also include musicians from the places where the music originated. Part of this decision stems from my conviction that musical sustainability has to be built into the repatriation process, and that archival works should not simply be accessed and listened to, but also re-incorporated into living, contemporary cultures of the community where the ownership is rooted. A more engaged approach to decolonising an archive can be found in addressing issues of agency in regard to the (re)claiming of symbolic and physical voice (or musical sound), in the (re)assertion of living and ongoing ownership (including that of the creative variety) in the archived recordings.

摘要

本报告考察了在当代南非环境中振兴土著音乐的合作意义。2012 年，ILAM 开始将休·特雷西 (Hugh Tracey) 的录音归还给社区和他录制的表演者家属。遣返的主要原因是遵循自 2000 年代初以来全球博物馆和档案馆采取的道德转变。作为罗德大学的一名工作人员，我参与了这个项目。然而，我决定不仅将录音返还给音乐家的家人，还包括来自音乐起源地的音乐家。这个决定的一部分源于我的信念，即音乐的可持续性必须融入到遣返过程中，而且档案作品不应该被简单地访问和收听，但也重新融入了所有权扎根的社区的活生生的当代文化中。在解决与（重新）要求象征性和物理声音（或音乐声音）有关的代理问题，在（重新）主张生活和持续所有权（包括创意品种）在存档的录音中。