Cameroonian sound preservationists
German experts and the national radio station are working together in Cameroon to prevent the loss of musical heritage.
Art is ephemeral. Often it does not consist of tangible objects, but of words, gestures – or sounds. And even if good art remains in our hearts and minds, our memory can still fade. It is therefore important to preserve sound recordings and other historical witnesses. That is also a subject of UNESCO International Music Day on 1 October as well as a project in Cameroon that is funded by Germany.
The African country is rich in musical traditions. The diversity of its inhabitants and the large number of ethnic groups have produced a broad range of styles and forms of expression. They have been preserved on gramophone records and audio tapes stored in the archive of the national radio station CRTV. No other collection is able to reflect Cameroon’s musical culture so comprehensively. Among other things, the archive preserves the only recordings of Cameroonian music from the 1960s until the 1990s. However, these recordings are in danger of being lost. There is a lack of facilities for maintaining the recordings. The tropical climate is also contributing to their deterioration. In order to counter this, the Federal Foreign Office is supporting a project to preserve the archive. Since 1981 Germany has contributed to preserving cultural heritage all over the world through its Cultural Preservation Programme.
Together with experts from Iwalewa-Haus, the Africa Centre at the University of Bayreuth, the German Embassy, the Goethe-Institut in the capital Yaoundé and the national radio station have begun the mission to save this music for future generations and are digitalizing the old recordings. The two-year project runs until 2014, and the Federal Foreign Office has provided funding of 130,000 euros. As a result, many pieces of music are being played for the very first time. Interested parties can now listen to them at interactive terminals at the CRTV studios in Yaoundé and in the former capital Douala. The new sounds are also interesting for researchers, who are now better able to conduct research into Cameroonian music.
International Music Day on 1 October
