A digital archive of Amorgos and the Small Cyclades musical tradition

In the deep blue expanse that separates Amorgos and Naxos sits a cluster of 32 islands, the Small Cyclades, of which only four are currently inhabited. A new project seeks to preserve memory of the daily life on these islands, moments of joy and sorrow, songs about fishing and migration, songs about the sea and hunting, and even pirate songs, ensuring that they are not lost to time.

In collaboration with researcher Panagiotis Liaropoulos and with support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), the Municipality of Amorgos created the Digital Audiovisual Folk Music Archive of Amorgos and its Islands—Donousa, Irakleia, Keros, Ano Koufonisi, Kato Koufonisi and Schoinoussa—to collect and preserve the musical tradition of these Aegean islands. The archive hosts audio, visual, printed, and oral sources relating to the islands’ instrumental and vocal traditional music, dance and folk poetic tradition.

With the digital archive, we’ll be able to travel to the Small Cyclades anytime we want—at least mentally.