23 Oct
2025
23 Oct
'25
5:57 p.m.
Dear colleagues,
The Phonogrammarchiv of the Austrian Academy of Sciences cordially
invites you to an online presentation of the results of the project,
"The entangled colonial history of sound recordings: The expedition of
the Viennese anthropologist Rudolf Pöch to Papua New Guinea (1904–1906)"
(https://www.entangled-recordings.pha.oeaw.ac.at/).
The aim of the small seven-month City of Vienna project from 2023 to
2024, was to reconnect the dispersed objects and recordings that the
anthropologist Rudolf Pöch, who worked within a racist, evolutionistic
theoretical framework, had shipped to Vienna through colonial networks
and infrastructures. This included 94 wax disc audio recordings with
people in what is today Papua New Guinea stored in the Phonogrammarchiv
today. We focused on finding these dispersed collections and making
these materials that various institutions hold in Vienna better findable
online.
One of the project aims was to publish a website, of which the first
version went online at the beginning of this year. In its current state,
it mainly presents several holdings in Vienna related to Pöch's colonial
'expedition' to Papua New Guinea. We are currently preparing another
section that delves into some of the preliminary findings and opens
further research questions. Furthermore, we are currently considering
what the digital recirculation of these recordings may look like today,
and what this implies.
To further reflect on the continuation of this project, the online
presentation includes a roundtable discussion about re-circulating
(early) sound recordings, beyond this particular collection.
Participants will be Barbara Titus (University of Amsterdam), Don Niles
(Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies), Emmanuel Daniel (Institute of
Papua New Guinea Studies), linus digim'Rina (University of Papua New
Guinea) and meLê Yamomo (University of Amsterdam).
Join us for the presentation and roundtable on Nov 13th, 2025, at 5:30
p.m. PGT / 9:30 a.m. CET:
https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/j/63862815692?pwd=iM5n7rFhA9a3ey8ywtn21799DDWpPZ….
We look forward to your attendance and an engaging discussion. Please
find the program in the attachment.
Kind regards,
Alexander Silaen, Conny Gruber, Kerstin Klenke and Clemens Gütl.