Current projects

Photograph by Cloete Breytenbach

Southern African Encyclopedia of Music & Sound

The Southern African Encyclopedia of Music & Sound is a collaborative, open-access digital platform hosted by the Africa Open Institute (AOI) at Stellenbosch University in partnership with the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR). This project emerged from the need to re-examine critically and expand upon J.P. Malan’s South African Music Encyclopedia (1978–1986), which primarily focused on Western classical music traditions and excluded many indigenous and vernacular forms.

In response to these limitations, the Southern African Encyclopedia of Music & Sound is designed as a decolonial, inclusive, and dynamic resource that documents the rich and diverse musical traditions of Southern Africa. The project utilizes Wikipedia as a public-facing platform to ensure that research on Southern African music and sound is widely accessible. By expanding and revising existing entries and creating new ones, the encyclopedia actively engages with the politics of representation and knowledge production in contemporary Southern Africa.

How to get involved

We’re always looking for contributors to join us in building this encyclopedia. Here are some ways you can get involved:

Write or Edit Wikipedia Entries

If you have knowledge of Southern African music—whether it’s about a specific genre, artist, tradition, or instrument—you can help by writing or editing Wikipedia entries. You can also volunteer to incorporate an entry from Malan’s Enclyclopedia into new or exisiting Wikipedia articles. We provide training and guidelines on how to get started with Wikipedia if you’re new to it. Visit our Wikiproject for more details and for a list of articles for creation and editing.

Attend an Edit-a-thon

Join us for one of our quarterly edit-a-thons! These are fun, collaborative events where we work together to create new content for the encyclopedia.

Share Media and Resources

We’re also looking for multimedia content—photos, recordings, videos, and more—that can be used to enrich the encyclopedia’s Wikipedia entries. If you have archives, collections, or original material that you’d like to share, we’d love to collaborate with you.

Spread the Word

If you know someone who might be interested in contributing, let them know about the project! The more people involved, the richer our encyclopedia will be.

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