Abstract:
Folk music traditions are appreciated across the world
for their capacity to maintain and convey cultural identities while
exhibiting the different manifestations of communities. This
research aims to examine the folk music archiving, preservation,
and conservation practices in Sri Lanka. The objective is to
understand the practices related to the preservation and
conservation of folk music. The methodology used in this study
is a qualitative case study, and data were gathered using a
literature review, semi-structured interviews, and observations.
Snowball sampling was used as the sampling method, and the
collected data were analyzed using content analysis. The study
identified conservation practices employed by organizations and
individual practitioners. Even though the country has many folk
music items, none of the musical items are inscribed on the
UNESCO Sri Lankan national list. It is evident from the results
that no specific attention has been devoted to identifying
endangered musical genres or preparing inventories. It was also
identified that there is a lack of attention to digitizing techniques,
which can preserve sound qualities in early recordings. In
addition to the poor facilities in the respective centers in Sri
Lanka, there is a tendency for recorded tapes to be damaged.
These challenges necessitate the exploration of innovative
approaches, community engagement, and policy support to
ensure the continued conservation and promotion of folk music
in Sri Lanka.
