ABSTRACT
This contribution argues that “everyday archiving” is quintessential for the current collaborative (re)activation of historical sound recordings and images of oratory, music, and dance created by the local communities in two Peruvian regions. Local practices of archiving these cultural expressions are integral to processes of identity formation that concern communities of the Northern Coast who assert a Muchik, or Quechua descent, and peoples of the Central Rainforest who identify as Asháninka or Nomatsigenga. Our analytical point of departure is historical materials that have been housed in a university archive (Instituto de Etnomusicología) and an individual archive (Manfred Schäfer). Relying on our key concept of shared soundscapes, we have recognised how, on the Northern Coast, cultural repertoires fall under the logic of heritage management, giving rise to the emergence of “entrepreneurial curators”; in the Central Rainforest soundscapes are refashioned by “grassroots researchers” and “sonic activists” who reactivate cultural traditions to secure their rights to territory. As anthropologists, we chose collaborative pathways that best suited the diverse regional approaches to everyday archiving.
