ABSTRACT The International Library of African Music (ILAM) is located in South Africa and is the largest sound archive of African music on the continent. This article examines a project involving the digital return and revitalization of Zimbabwean mbira (The mbira (or thumb piano) is an instrument classified as lamellophone in the categorization of instruments (organology). The lamellophones belong to the type of instruments mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa.) recordings (the mbira is an instrument popularly known as the thumb piano or lamellophone) which was undertaken by the author during 2015–2016. The article describes how the project involved taking recordings from the sound archive in a digital format (CD or MP3 mainly) back to the country, region, or location where these recordings were made and how it led to increased engagement with the recordings and to collaboration between ILAM, the author, scholars, and mbira teachers in Zimbabwe. The outcomes from the project are detailed and the project is placed in the wider context of discourse around postcolonial studies and the repatriation of cultural heritage.

中文翻译：

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ILAM 津巴布韦录音的数字化回归：通过 ILAM 与非洲大学之间的后殖民合作复兴声音档案

摘要 国际非洲音乐图书馆（ILAM）位于南非，是非洲大陆最大的非洲音乐声音档案馆。本文考察了一个涉及津巴布韦 mbira 数字回归和振兴的项目（mbira（或拇指钢琴）是一种在乐器（器官学）分类中被归类为 lamellophone 的乐器。lamellophones 属于在子Saharan Africa.) 录音（mbira 是一种通常被称为拇指钢琴或 lamellophone 的乐器），由作者在 2015-2016 年期间进行。文章描述了该项目如何将数字格式（主要是 CD 或 MP3）的声音档案中的录音带回国家、地区、或录制这些录音的地点，以及它如何导致增加对录音的参与以及 ILAM、作者、学者和津巴布韦的 mbira 教师之间的合作。该项目的结果很详细，并且该项目被置于围绕后殖民研究和文化遗产返还的更广泛的讨论背景中。