Bring the past to present' : recording and reviving Rotuman music via a collaborative Rotuman/Fijian/Australian CD project

This paper explores a recording project that led to CDs documenting Rotuman musical performances and music practice in Suva, Fiji. The project was a collaboration between the Rotuman diasporic community, the Oceanic Centre for the Arts and Culture at the University of the South Pacific and a music based researcher from Australia. It uses description, analysis and ethnography to explore the role of digital technologies; the role and evolution of music in diasporic communities in Australia and Fiji; the benefits and challenges of collaborative transnational musical research projects; and the role of music researchers as music producers.