Preservation of the Paul Lambert Ethnomusicology Collection

On the occasion of UNESCO's 2023 celebration of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, the United Music Foundation completes the preservation of a collection of 26 magnetic tapes recorded by Geneva-based writer, filmmaker, and ethnologist Paul Lambert. These tapes are part of the Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève (MEG) collections.

 

These 1/4" magnetic tapes were recorded in Brazil in 1962, coinciding with the filming of footage that Paul Lambert would use to create the film and book "Fraternelle Amazonie" (Fraternal Amazon), as well as during his missions in Niger and Central African Republic in the 1950s and 1970s, which resulted in the films "Les hommes du dernier soleil" (The Men of the Last Sun), "Petite vie - Pygmées, danseurs de dieu" (Small Life - Pygmies, Dancers of God), and the book "Fraternelle Afrique" (Fraternal Africa). This tape collection was transferred to the MEG in 2016.

 

This preservation project was carried out by the United Music Foundation with the support of a grant from the City of Geneva.

 

Musical Bow Music
recorded for the movie "Petite vie - Pygmées, danseurs de dieu" (Small Life - Pygmies, Dancers of God)

Listen to an Audio Clip

Recorded by Paul Lambert around 1974 in Barondo, a village in the Sangha-Mbaéré region in the southwest of the Central African Republic.

Source : 1/4" tape, 7,5ips, 2 tracks mono, AIMP-BD1055_01

 

Paul Lambert Collection, International Archive of Popular Music (AIMP) of the MEG.
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Preservation of the original tape : David Hadzis - United Music Foundation, Geneva
    Paul Lambert collecting narratives from the Kamaiurá, Brazil, 1962. 
    Photo : (c) Paul Lambert Collection - MEG