This document discusses the importance of safeguarding song and dance traditions in Zimbabwe and the role that sound and image recordings can play. It notes that songs are an integral part of everyday life from childhood to adulthood, conveying cultural identity and passing down myths and legends. While lyrics may withstand time, the surrounding traditions will change, making documentation important. However, conventional methods cannot fully capture the lyrics, movements, actions, and materials of performances. Sound and video recordings can record these complicated performances and traditions in a way that preserves them for future generations. The National Archives of Zimbabwe holds recordings from the 1940s onward that document Zimbabwe's cultural heritage through song.

1. THE POWER OF SOUND AND
IMAGES: SAFEGUARDING
SONG AND DANCE
TRADITIONS IN ZIMBABWE
Paper presented at the Indigenous Knowledge
Systems Conference, Bulawayo, 28-31 August
2012
Victor Nduna
National archives of Zimbabwe, Audiovisual Unit
Email: vnduna@archives.gov.zw

2. Wish he had a video camera to
record this!!!
The traditional coronation of Chief Ndima, as narrated by
Moss (1974:330), “The remaining members of the
family of the party had mealie meal smeared in a patch
on their foreheads...As the party approached the kraal
they were singing a traditional song ‘Ndiani waka uraya
baba’ and proceeded to shuffle around the grave of the
chief. The party was joined by other relatives and
people who had come to the ceremony... Once the
song and dance had been completed one of the
madzibaba ordered people to sit...”

3. Songs in every day life
Songs are part and parcel of every aspect
of life.
From early childhood to late adulthood
songs celebrate, motivate, mourn, worship,
lament, rebuke, console, teach.
Cultural identity in music- it is people’s
music that makes them a unique people.

4. Songs as archives
music is more than mere entertainment,
rather it conveys massages of social
value.
Through songs, myths, legends and
folklore are passed on in forms that can
be easily stored and retrieved from
people’s memory and the question of
literacy becomes unimportant

5. Why archive “archives”
songs are associated with unique
performances, dances, regalia, objects and
traditions which constitute an important
aspect of human knowledge and culture.
While the lyrics may stand the taste of
time, the song culture will eventually
change and need to be captured for future
generations to compare the present with
the past.

6. Challenges in archiving songs
and dances
The song and dance traditions comprise of
i. lyrics
ii. movements,
iii. actions
iv. Materials
All these aspects need to be contextualised
in a way that conventional documentation
methods cannot capture and convey

7. Through their ability to capture and
convey complicated movements and
processes, sound and image recording
technologies are a powerful means of
capturing song and dance traditions
Power of sound and images

8. Sound and Moving Image recording was introduced
in 1948 and 1949 respectively
Both developments resulted in the capturing of
African indigenous cultures as compared to print
media
The residues of these developments at the NAZ are a
rich source of traditional songs from late 1940s to
the present day recorded on different audiovisual
media reflecting the Zimbabwean song and dance
culture.
Evidence of the power of
sound and image recording in
Zimbabwe

9.  songs and dances constitute an important part
of indigenous cultures
Songs and dances comprises of various aspects
all of which are important.
There is a great need to capture all aspects of
the songs and dances when documenting the
song and dance traditions
Combined use of sound and video recording
equipment is vital to fully document song and
dance traditions
Some field experiences