Outline

Objectives

In 2017, video footage was taken of Senegal’s “Culture Week” featuring the Soninke people for a collection of video materials used in a Minpaku information project. The results were published through the production of Videotheque program no. 4 (FY2018) and Minpaku Visual Ethnography (FY2019). The main purpose of these programs was to focus on the key people involved and the way the event was managed, thus providing an overall picture of “Culture Week”, and there is an enormous amount of left-over footage that it was not possible to include in the limited time. Each one of the performances which took place in 20 different villages showcase ethnic culture and contain valuable information, but they have never been given due consideration.
In this project, a database will be used as a platform for the video footage of these performances, and detailed written information will be added for each. Through this, we aim to promote a more detailed understanding of ethnic culture and achieve our objective of preserving and restoring it to the local community.

Description

The stage performances at 20 different villages depicting ethnic culture form the basis of this database. In addition to performances enacting things such as wedding ceremonies and artisan culture, each stage is the scene of recitations by griot (traditional musicians who typically provide the accompaniment at festivals), dancing, and greetings to the audience by the events’ hosts and patrons. The primary objective for the database will be the addition of accurate information about the content of these performances and their cultural background, as this is where the ethnic culture, customs and traditions that local people want to preserve are most clearly manifested. In addition to this, there are interviews with key people in various different positions, and audio information on what it is that the griot musicians recite, as well as visual information about the timing of their recitations and how the audiences react to them. By supplementing multiple sources of information in this way, we can promote a deeper understanding of the ethno-cultural background to the stage performances.
In the first phase of this project we will divide up the existing footage into different sections for the 20 performances, interviews, dancing, and the griot’s recitations before and after the performances. We will then process the data to make it a suitable size for viewing on portable devices. The second phase will be to determine the items of information to be included for the 20 videos, and to add the basic information. In the third phase, we will transcribe any words spoken on stage in the local languages of Soninke, Bambara and Fulani, and then translate them into Western languages and Japanese. In order to do this, we will host workshops in the local community and prepare the database in cooperation with the narrators and traditional musicians responsible for passing down their history to successive generations.
When the database becomes operational, we plan to introduce a voice comment function. The cultural successors in the communities in question are often unable to read or write. With this database it will become possible to preserve information in the form of voice recordings that was previously only ever stored in people’s memories. Users will then be able to convert this into written information. As such, we expect the database to become a highly versatile means of information exchange.

Expected results

Note: Results also reveal what kind of database it would be.
Firstly, we will be able to make comprehensive and effective use of the video footage already shot on site. Through this, we can gain a deeper understanding of the ethnic culture that the local people want to preserve and pass on.
Secondly, by returning the video footage to the local community and introducing a function enabling written and spoken comments from local people, we will not only be able to the preserve the materials, but also promote their widespread use.
Thirdly, we will be able to substantively contribute to the preservation of culture for the people of the local communities. The traditions and history of their ethnic culture have previously only ever been stored in memories; we will provide the local community with a new means of passing on their culture.
Finally, by making the database a forum, which will be accessible both to research institutions and people from the local communities, we will contribute to realizing the overall objectives of the Info-Forum Museum initiative.