SOUND iD - an international project aimed at preserving private memory in digital culture

Very interesting and rare entries. Especially valuable is the violin music, because few good examples of instrumental works have been preserved, as well records of the 1970s – by weight of gold.

This applies throughout the territory Ukraine, and even the Lviv region is no exception. And, of course, everything outside the music is very interesting and so very rare, because there are very few such records.

The archive leaves amazing and very subtle impressions. At first, you don’t quite understand what you’ve faced: what are these recordings, why are they made, what can they mean for me personally? And then you realize that this is part of the genetic memory. We’ve got a few of these unexpected archives in culture. One of them is the documentary works of the writer Svitlana Aleksiievych, based on real private stories. The second is a photographic archive of the painter Mykhailо Vainshtein, made in Ukraine in the 1960-1970s. Relatives of the artist didn’t attach too much importance to this heritage and gave a whole suitcase with the preserved films for publication only after 2010. Researchers discovered ‘atlantis’ in them – everyone has already forgotten what Ukraine looked like in the days, captured in the photos. This is the special charm of such projects – suddenly they open the distance in time for us. Perzhylo archive dates back to the 70s. 50 years – is a long distance, as today the oldies don’t sing like that anymore. In addition, they activate this feeling in us – where are the recordings of my grandparents? Did nobody keep their voices? Do their voices fall out of the family memory? It turns out that in some cases they don’t fall out as someone has quietly worked on this for decades, collected their voices and put them together, sending them into space of the future. Volodymyr Perzhylo was very sensitive to the things that were disappearing. He recorded them, and they turned out to be unexpectedly important. Especially for artists.

The SOUND iD Residence is an example of when work on the digitization, compilation and creation of an online archive is not a purpose in itself, but a thoughtful process that involves the use and inclusion of materials in circulation. The works of artists that were created during the residency surprised with their originality and variety of forms: from visual interpretations to performances. They are limited neither by sound nor by the characteristic patterns that can be expected from the interpretation of folklore and ethnographic material. Just as important is the fact that thanks to the project, good guidance and organization, the authors are united and can speak both to the local community in Bibrka and to the global audience. It is important for the archive of Volodymyr Perzhylo to receive proper support and attention in the future.

Intangible cultural heritage is one of the most fragile forms of culture, as often it disappears with its bearers. Therefore, the search for reliable ways to preserve it is an important priority for us. In Mr Perzhylo’s sound suitcase there are notes that are almost 50 years old and they are an extremely valuable cultural and historical source that deserves the attention of curators and scientists.

In addition, for us, as the National Center for Folk Culture, it is important to be a platform for partnership and interaction for the preservation and updating of cultural heritage. We are interested in attracting various professional groups to cooperation. The interdisciplinary partnership is extremely valuable for us, as a way to a diverse view of tradition, understanding and processing cultural artefacts. Such forms of work open up new views on the material, new opportunities for the professional environment. On the other hand, they are attracting a new audience to work with folklore and ethnographic materials.

We understand that new media is the way in which we can pass the mission of preserving the heritage to the modern generation and even create different forms of its life. New media provides an opportunity to introduce archives into modern cultural contexts and thus form the interest of the young generation in them.

The Perzhylo collection is not only a find, but a real cultural discovery. I hope that openness and time will give it a proper evaluation. Such collections as Volodymyr Perzhylo’s one, can significantly complement the map of folklore archives created by professional folklorists and ethnomusicologists. For example, a private collection of material culture artefacts collected at his days by Ivan Honchar laid the basis of a National Centre of Folk Culture.

We know that there are still many such “suitcases” both in Ukraine and abroad. The SOUND iD project should be a valuable experience in preserving and working with cultural heritage. The main thing to understand is that the time of analog media is limited. So, we should timely and responsibly treat any such finds in the attics.

Together with other archives SOUND iD, Bervy /bervy.org.ua/, Electronic Archive of Ukrainian Folklore /folklore-archive.org.ua/, polyphonyproject.com makes significant progress towards updating cultural values ​​that are waiting for their meetings with scientists, artists and a wide audience of generation XXI.

The result of the SOUND iD project is an extremely powerful artistic expression multiplied by the individual experience of every resident – both their previous life experience and the current one, obtained in the surrounding of Volodymyr Perzhyo’s recordings, the magnificent Carpathians and each other. These are women’s stories, unrealistic visual plots, and this is also a deep magic sound, that gives you shivers. I am fond of the talent and the amount of creative energy that is inside of every invited artist. To know the archive of Volodymyr Perzhylo through the prism of their experience is a very emotional moment, a moment of the multiplicity of all our feelings and reflections.