Interviews, mixtapes, graphic score and publication of the SNSF Spark media history research project Echoes of the southern African independence era in Swiss journalism archives, 1970s-1990s: an exploration of artis-tic research approaches for research on global history, 1970s-1990s

1970-1994

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Sound recordings in journalistic archives in Switzerland are a hitherto little recognised source for research into the period of independence in Southern Africa. The research project deployed collaborative and artistic research approaches open up new perspectives on how these audio sources can be integrated into the study of global history. Journalistic archives in Switzerland possess a wide range of audio recordings that were made in the context of reports on the independence era in southern Africa, such as the Rhodesia Conference of 1976, which took place in Geneva. Passed down to the present day, these recordings represent echoes that offer distorted insights into recording situations and transport them across space and time. The project examined how collaborative and artistic research approaches with these sound recordings can contribute to the creation of new, decolonial narratives in global history. In exchange with journalists and artists from Southern Africa, the research project produced outcomes in the form of a podcast, a graphic score and a lecture performance, with an accompanying publication and website aimed at a general audience. With formats that are interactive and collaborative, The project experimented with an innovative simultaneous approach in which artistic approaches are integrated into the research process. The exchange between diverse perspectives and feedback processes are intensified in order to make global historical research more efficient and democratise it. The podcast, graphic score and lecture performance formats also allow research and communication to be brought closer together.

1) Collaborative and artistic methods such as mixtape-making and music composition are effective tools for historical research with sound archives. A collaboration between researchers and practitioners from different disciplines, all of whom are important to the research project but no participant has all the skills on their own, promotes a transdisciplinary approach which leads to insights that could not be reached within a single discipline. 2) The presentation of historical research in the form of a podcast and composition with a graphic score creates possibilities for interactions and feedback sessions with a broad academic and general public. Treated as an integral part of a research project and not added at the end of it as an outreach component, it generates an ongoing feedback loop and can deepen analytical insights. 3) The research project generated substantial discussions about archival resources relevant for researchers and citizens in the Global South being located in Switzerland, and how to deal with the postcolonial challenges inherent to this situation. Participants from Southern Africa emphasised the need for an archival politics that treats people from the countries where archival recordings were produced as co-custodians of these collections. The return of the archival recordings to the countries in the Global South was discussed as a possibility, however, collaborators stressed that individual solutions had to be developed for each case, which include improving remote digital accessibility and the providing of resources for the undertaking of academic and artistic research projects.