Shared soundscapes: The (re)activation of an institutional and individual archive of Peruvian music and dance

Abstract

“Shared soundscapes” is a key concept that allows us to identify the multiplicity of agencies involved in historical sound recordings and their reactivation today. We use the notion to compare two very different Peruvian case studies concerning Asháninka and Nomatsiguenga peoples of the Central Rainforest and Muchik, Quechua, and mestizo peoples in the Lambayeque region, along with their respective music traditions. Part of their sonic legacy is stored in archives; one was created by an individual anthropologist, and the other is an institutional ethnomusicological archive. The comparison of historical and current soundscapes brings to the fore anthropological issues regarding how a web of actors—among them sonic activists from academia and these communities—have shaped these archives as a process and practice. It raises questions about collaborative approaches to decolonize repositories, which implies handing over rights to individuals and communities so that they can make decisions about their sonic legacies.