LISTENING AS CONTINUITY: COMMUNITY-CENTERED APPROACHES TO SOUND HERITAGE IN SAGADA, NORTHERN PHILIPPINES.

Abstract

This article examines the evolving role of the University of the Philippines Center for Ethnomusicology in the stewardship of archival sound recordings originating from community-based musical practices in the Philippines. While the Center was initially formed around the consolidation and preservation of the José Maceda Collection, its work has increasingly shifted toward forms of collaborative custodianship grounded in community engagement and shared decision-making. Using the Sagada Community Archives Initiative as a case example, the article discusses how the return and circulation of archival recordings can support cultural continuity when approached through practices of collective listening, open-ended dialogue, and respect for community authority. Rather than framing preservation as the stabilisation of cultural forms, the initiative emphasises the importance of relational presence, gradual pacing, and attention to the social contexts in which sound acquires meaning.

The study highlights the significance of acknowledging community-held knowledge alongside institutional archival expertise, supporting flexible and locally meaningful modes of cataloguing and access, and recognising that cultural heritage may include the right to limit circulation. The article argues that sustainable models of sound heritage work require forms of institutional participation that are adaptive, patient, and attentive to the dynamics of cultural life in situ. The Sagada case demonstrates that archival restoration may be understood not only as technical repair but as a process of accompaniment that honours both memory and ongoing cultural transformation. This essay hopes to contribute a relational framework for sound heritage by showing how collective listening and shared decision-making reconfigure institutional archival roles.