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Institute of PNG Studies gets music recordings
The Music Archive of the Institute of
PNG Studies recently received 159 compact discs documenting Papua
New Guinea's music, languages and history from the Pacific and
Regional Archive or Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC).
PARADISEC was established to provide digital conservation and
access for materials from the Pacific region.
Initially it has focussed on the safe preservation of original
field recordings made in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these
recordings were made on reel to reel or cassette tapes. PARADISEC
makes digital copies of these recordings and returns the originals
to the collectors or their institutions.
PARADISEC's project director, Professor Linda Barwick said, "Papua
New Guinea is very lucky to have the Music Archive of the
Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies (IPNGS). It is
internationally known as the largest and most important collection
of Papua New Guinea music in the world. PARADISEC is very happy to
be able to contribute to this collection to make it even more
representative of the research recordings that have been
undertaken there."
Acting Director of IPNGS Don Niles noted that the support of
PARADISEC is essential for the continuing development of the
Institute's Music Archive.
"The Institute's Music Archive is mandated to provide a permanent,
historical record of the music of this country. With the ongoing
assistance of organisations such as PARADISEC, we can ensure that
such recordings are available in Papua New Guinea," Mr Niles said,
Mr Niles said such collaborations have enabled us to make our
Music Archive as representative as possible of the richness of
musical traditions in this country.
"We are proud of this accomplishment, our collaboration with
PARADISEC, and how these efforts continue to reflect the aims of
the founders of the Institute," he said.
The recordings digitised by PARADISEC consist of many different
types of materials, for example, language data, origin stories,
locally significant events, music, etc. Often such materials have
been used by their collectors as part of their ongoing
investigations into Papua New Guinea traditions. While the written
results of this research are frequently available, the recordings
originally collected are not. PARADISEC has sought to remedy this
situation.
Managed by a steering committee representing the University of
Sydney, University of Melbourne, and the Australian National
University, PARADISEC also organises occasional seminars and
workshops.
IPNGS staff participated in two of these workshops in 2003 and
2006. After the first workshop, IPNGS staff received ten compact
discs for the Music Archive, consisting of recordings made by
Australian researchers in Bougainville, Sandaun, and Central
provinces, between 1964 and 1980.
Relations between IPNGS and PARADISEC have continued to grow since
then.
The present gift to the IPNGS Music Archive focuses on recordings
made during fieldwork in many parts of the country from 1969 to
2005.
Most of the eleven collectors of these recordings were primarily
engaged in linguistic work in Papua New Guinea. Analysing these
materials, some of them did extensive work on language
classification to help us understand more about the tremendous
diversity in this country.
Other collectors have focussed primarily on one area, writing in
detail about a particular language. Finally, the most recent
collections result from work still in progress by scholars now
writing up their findings. All these collectors were associated
with the Australian National University, the University of Sydney,
or the University of Melbourne during the time of their fieldwork.
The largest collections of PARADISEC materials received by the
IPNGS Music Archive come from three linguists, well known for
their early work on classifying languages in the region: Arthur
Capell, Donald Laycock, and Thomas Dutton.
Capell (1902-86) did a number of early surveys of languages
throughout the Pacific and was the first linguist to survey
languages in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. He was a very
important scholar in undertaking research on many different
languages and writing extensively on their features and
classification.
Laycock (1936-88) is best known for his work on languages in the
Sepik provinces, the Buin language of southern Bougainville, and
Tok Pisin. In the Sepik, Laycock surveyed many languages and
published a highly influential classification of them. In Buin,
Laycock followed the initial work of Richard Thurnwald, who did
research in the area sixty years earlier. Both Thurnwald and
Laycock were particularly fascinated by the expressive poetry of
Buin songs. Laycock was also the author of a book for learning Tok
Pisin and wrote extensively about the use of that language in
songs, plays, poems, and short stories.
Dutton conducted fieldwork in PNG, later taught at the University
of PNG (1975-78), and then took up a position at the Australian
National University. He will certainly be remembered by many of
the early UPNG graduates. Dutton was also responsible for doing
essential work on the classification of languages here, but his
focus was on Central and Oro provinces.
With Dicks Thomas of UPNG, Dutton co-authored the essential book
for learning Tok Pisin.
Another primary focus of Dutton's research has been on Police Motu
(now known as Hiri Motu) and the version of Motu used on hiri
voyages, primarily by the trading partners of the Motu in the
Gulf. He has written the main textbook for learning Hiri Motu, as
well as a monograph about its history, Police Motu: Iena Sivarai,
published by UPNG.
Another large collection obtained from PARADISEC comes from Alan
Rumsey, who began his work on the Ku Waru language of Western
Highlands in 1981. After co-authoring a book on this language and,
particularly, its use in oratory or formal speech-making, Rumsey
has increasingly focussed on a verbal genre known as tom yaya
kange. These are sung stories, presented by master performers,
telling tales which fascinate, amuse, educate, and enchant
listeners.
The recordings donated by PARADISEC to the IPNGS Music Archive
reflect the essential materials collected by these linguists and
others during the course of their research in Papua New Guinea.
Often taken from original tapes in deteriorating condition, they
have been digitised to the highest international standards. Niles
further noted that the "dedication, expertise, and generosity of
PARADISEC to the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies is very
deeply appreciated. Some of Papua New Guinea's traditions and
history are contained on the 159 compact discs we have received
from them. We will do everything possible to honour our
responsibilities to the people of this country to preserve these
materials for present and future generations."
 
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