African Music Archives

Founded in 1991, the African Music Archives (AMA) has a collection of modern African music which is unique in Germany. It includes shellacs and vinyl-records, audio- and videotapes, CD’s and DVD’s.

At present, there are approximately 10 000 sound carriers, some of them dating back to the 1940’s. Regional emphasis is on Ethiopia, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo (Ex-Zaire), Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. Additionally, more or less representative inventories from almost any sub-Saharan country can be found in the collection, which is continuously extended by additional purchases.

Several thousands of newspaper clippings are preserved, sorted by country, genre and artist. The articles, reports, interviews and reviews present a vast amount of background material that can be inspected on the spot.