Archives, repatriation, agency, and changing circumstances: Reflections on shared soundscapes, collaborative activations, and repatriations in Latin America

Abstract

This article reflects on changes in the roles of audiovisual archives and the use of their collections by ethnomusicologists and Indigenous communities in Latin America as represented by the three articles in JLACA and Anthony Seeger's research and experience as director of archives and a record label. It describes the multiplication of archives in the twenty-first century and the concept of an archival multiverse. Seeger then addresses three questions: What is a shared soundscape? What is a recording? What is an archive? He prefers the term sharing soundscapes to repatriation and stresses the importance of considering the agency of communities in deciding how to share their knowledge. To widen the terms of the discussion, he moves from a discussion of researchers sharing soundscapes to a discussion of how audiovisual archives and record companies also share soundscapes.