We reconstruct memory through listening. Over the past three months, as we shared in April, we immersed ourselves with our ears wide open and a shared desire to explore a digital sound archive that began taking shape over 20 years ago.
In partnership with Oír Más we collaborated in a space of co-creation and co-learning, listening to one another and weaving connections through in-person sessions. We explored a digital archive that has gathered recorded memories since 2002. At first, we allowed ourselves to get lost in the attentive listening of soundscapes, jingles, bumpers, live radio programs, pre-recorded shows, podcasts, and experimental broadcasts. After analyzing and group discussions, we chose to clear a path forward by organizing the archive based on the interests of current members,focusing on themes such as gender perspectives and social leadership. We also identified audio elements like jingles, sound effects, and soundscapes that could nourish the collective’s future work in a more integrated and informed way. We drew inspiration from the Indigenous worldview which sees the future as lying behind and the past ahead. From this perspective, memory work allows us to harvest more dignified,desirable futures grounded in buen vivir, or good living.
Over the past few months, we accomplished the following:
- We created a structured archive map and developed recommendations for future archiving practices.
- We designed a simple archive sheet to accompany each folder in their GDrive and external hard drives, including relevant details of the archived materials.
- We defined an archiving protocol that classifies materials by year, creation month, project or activity, author, and when possible, project name. We also organised subfolders based on format (experimental, audio portrait, soundscape, etc.).
- We established a RAD protocol and policy to help the community understand and engage with the archive’s organization.
- We designed a security guide for the devices used to safeguard the archive.
- Together, we reflected on the collective’s digital security and responsible data management through interactive workshops, improving both personal and organizational best practices for the members.
Listen to the Oír Más archive online:
- Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/@oirmas
- https://archive.org/details/@o_rm_s_radio
- https://archive.org/details/5pasos001
- Website: http://oirmasradio.univalle.edu.co/
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/oir-mas-radio
- Blog: https://oirmaspodcast.blogspot.com/
Listen to the radio show, summarizing our partnership in Spanish here.
We are deeply grateful to the members of Oír Más for allowing us to listen and walking with us through laughter, shouts, tears, frogs singing at night, and the Cali breeze echoing in their sound archive. Most importantly, we are honored to contribute to the sound memory of a city that reverberates with the richness of its migrant and multicultural people.
Keep an eye on your social media feeds for some of the archive materials that will be made public in the coming months.
Long live radio, on and offline!
Credits: This Matchbox partnership and its outcomes were made possible by Nathaly Espitia Diaz, Denisse Albornoz, Jen Lynn, Paola Mosso, Sisanda Ntshinga and Brian Obilo of The Engine Room. This partnership was co-developed and co-designed with Sofia Burbano, Camila Ramirez, Karol Caicedo, Maria Angelica Quintero of Oìr Más. And sound archive consultant Laura Cuellar.