A collaborative research project in Swiss journalism archives
Project description
Journalism archives in Switzerland (re)sound with echoes of Southern African liberation struggles. There are echoes of major political events, such as the Geneva Conference of 1976, but also echoes of everyday life and work that were intertwined with the freedom struggle.
In the course of the research project “Echoes of the Southern African independence era in Swiss journalism archives,” which took place at the University of Lausanne’s Section d’histoire from February to July 2024 (SNSF Spark project no 221267), a group of researchers, journlists, and artists from Southern Africa and Switzerland embarked on a collaborative exploration of archival recordings related to the Southern African independence era in Swiss journalism archives.
Collectively, we listened to the archival recordings to think about their meaning in the present moment. What stories can we tell with them about the past, present and future? How does their meaning shift depending on who listens to them, and where they are listened to? What new modes of historical research can we imagine that address colonial legacies and are committed to a politics of restoration, care and social justice?
These investigations resulted in three interrelated outputs: a podcast, a publication, and a graphic score. For the podcast episodes, collaborators created mixtapes with archival recordings, recordings from their own collections, and newly recorded sounds, and recorded a conversation. The publication features blurbs for each podcast episode, offering further explanations and context. The graphic score is an original composition of music that invites performers and audiences to collaboratively continue the exploration of echoes of the Southern African liberation struggles and participate in future archive-making.
Archives
The research project focused primarily on digitised audio recordings from the Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) Archives and the Ruth Weiss Sound Archives at the Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB) Archives.
The RTS Archives makes a part of its collection accessible online at https://www.rts.ch/archives/. Researchers interested in additional archival recordings, including unpublished ones, can contact the RTS Archives directly via email to ask for permission to access an internal database.
The Ruth Weiss Sound Archives at the BAB Archives (collection TPA.43) can be searched through the institution’s catalogue and with a published finding aid that can be downloaded from the its website. In Switzerland, researchers can listen to the digitised recordings at Memobase+ listening stations in selected libraries, archives and educational institutions. Researchers from abroad can apply for remote access directly with the BAB Archives team.
Another major research tool for audio and audio-visual recordings in Swiss archives is Memobase, the portal to Switzerland’s audio-visual heritage provided by Memoriav.
Contributors
Melanie Boehi is a Swiss historian and curator based at the University of Lausanne. melanieboehi.com
Lynsey Chutel is a South African journalist and writer based in Johannesburg. She is the co-author of the book Coloured: How Classification Became Culture. nytimes.com/by/lynsey-chutel
Talya Lubinsky is a South African artist and researcher based in Berlin. She is the artistic director of the platform The Shape of a Pocket. talyalubinsky.com
Niren Tolsi is a South African journalist based in Cape Town. His slow journalism project After Marikana is an ongoing investigation of the Marikana massacre and its aftermath. marikana.mg.co.za
Cara Stacey is a South African musician, composer and musicologist based in Johannesburg. Her records include Like the Grass, Ceder, and Things That Grow. carastacey.com
Andrei van Wyk is a South African musician and sound artist based in Johannesburg. healeroran.bandcamp.com
Belinda Zhawi is a Zimbabwean poet, sound artist and educator based in London. She is the author of Small Inheritances. mamoyo.bandcamp.com
Percy Zvomuya is a Zimabwean journalist, writer and editor based in Harare. He is the founding editor of the literary magazine when three sevens clash. percyzvomuya.com
Thanks
Thanks go to Ruth Weiss, Maggie Caroline Katsande, Ndikho Bomela Jokanisi, the families of Marikana, Ish Mafundikwa, Dag Henrichsen, Shingirirai Hopkins, Susanne Hubler Baier, Dalia Neis, Tobias Purfürst, Bernhard C. Schär, Judy Seidman, Micha Seitzinger, François Vallotton, Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Radio Télévision Suisse, University of Lausanne, Swiss National Science Foundation, and all contributors.
Impressum
Project Lead: Melanie Boehi.
Sound Design, Editing and Podcast Production: Andrei van Wyk.
Visual Scores: Cara Stacey, Talya Lubinsky, Melanie Boehi.
Design and Layout: Talya Lubinsky.
Copy-Editing: Percy Zvomuya.
Proofreading: Jayne Batzofin.
Contributors: Melanie Boehi, Lynsey Chutel, Talya Lubinsky, Cara Stacey, Niren Tolsi, Andrei van Wyk, Belinda Zhawi, Percy Zvomuya.
Archives: Original archival recordings used in the mixtapes are subject to the regulations of the Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BAB) Archives.
The song in Talya Lubinsky’s mixtape is Un Cavretico by Dali Muru & The Polyphonic Swarm © 2024. Their music is available at: stroomtv.bandcamp.com/album/dali-muru-the-polyphonic-swarm.
The Echoes of Southern African liberation struggles visual score and publication © 2024 by Melanie Boehi, Lynsey Chutel, Talya Lubinsky, Cara Stacey, Niren Tolsi, Andrei van Wyk, Belinda Zhawi and Percy Zvomuya are licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
Open Data
An Open Data Repository containing drafts and notes created during the research project is in preparation. A link will follow soon.
Funding
The research project “Echoes of the Southern African independence era in Swiss journalism archives” is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation with a Spark grant (project number 221267).
