A guide to The Syliphone Archive

This project aims to create an archive of sound recordings released on the Syliphone label, and also to copy unreleased Syliphone studio recordings from their current reel-to-reel format to compact disc and to archive these recordings. In 1958 Guinea gained independence and the newly elected government sought ways to revitalise the nation after a long period of colonial rule. In order to instil a sense of nationhood and to revitalise the indigenous arts the government introduced the concept of authenticité, a cultural policy whereby artists were encouraged to look at the past for inspiration and to incorporate themes and styles from local traditions into their new works. The authenticité programme saw the creation of a vast network of state-funded regional arts troupes, which represented the nation's towns, districts and regions. Over 40 regional and national orchestras formed a major part of these troupes, and together with groups such as Les Ballets Africains they toured the world and travelled extensively within Africa. The concept of authenticité was thus spread to other African nations, such as Mali, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Zaïre, many of whom adopted authenticité as their official cultural policy.