ICHCAP Releases ICH Audiovisual Collections of Fiji and FSM

ICHCAP Audiovisual Collection Ⅶ- FSM - Fiji ⓒ ICHCAP

ICHCAP publishes audiovisual collections on ICH from Fiji and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), which are titled ICHCAP Audiovisual Collection Ⅶ and Ⅷ. Through ICHCAP’s 2017 Program for Supporting the Digitization Project of ICH-Related Analogue Audiovisual Materials in the Pacific, five hundred hours of analogue materials were digitized with the participation of the Fiji National Museum and Yap State Historic Preservation Office of the FSM. ICHCAP selected digitized materials for the collections based on the preservation status, use, and the value of sharing among other criteria.

The Fiji collection consists of nine CDs and one DVD. The CDs have eighty tracks of chants, children’s songs, dance music, hymns, and folk songs recorded in daily life during the 1970s. The DVD features videos produced in 1997 on the art of mat weaving and its sociocultural meaning.

The FSM collection consists of eight CDs and two DVDs. The CDs list twenty tracks, including ICH-related stories, legends, and myths recorded in Yap, one of four FSM states, during the 1960s. The DVDs feature videos on Yap Day dances recorded for ten years since 2007.

The collections have helped raise academic values and public awareness of ICH of Fiji and the FSM by restoring analogue materials at risk of harm and damage. They are also expected to contribute to enhancing understanding of traditional Fijian and FSM cultures. The collections will be released to the institutions involved with the project as well as others abroad. The audio tracks and videos will also be available through ICHCAP’s website and YouTube.