About Us

The Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology of the American Institute of Indian Studies was established in 1982 with the aim of creating an audio visual archives that would provide a space for voluntarily deposited collections of recordings made by scholars and institutions of Indian music and performance from all over the world. The emphasis during its inception was on collections that would otherwise not be available in India, as the early recordings in India were largely made by foreigners and housed in archives all over the world. To this end, repatriation of collections has remained a major aim of the ARCE, which houses collections of Arnold Bake from the 1930s and Fox Strangways ( 1902) which were not available in India. Scholars and collectors from all over the world, as well as India, continue to deposit collections of their recordings regularly at ARCE.

The parallel aim is to stimulate the study of ethnomusicology in India.ARCE has an active calendar of events including seminars and workshops, in ethnomusicology as well as audio visual archiving. It also has a publication program of books and recordings. 200 selected tracks from the ARCE are also available for paid download on www.folkways.si.edu. (search for ARCE).

The ARCE has listening and viewing facilities for users, and a reference library that has seminal works of ethnomusicology from all over the world, and detailed collections on India including works on music, folklore, ethnography and related disciplines. Apart from books and journals there is an extensive collection of newspaper clippings and ephemera.

The archives and library are open from 9:30 to 5 PM from Monday to Friday. Visitors and users are requested to make an appointment to call ahead and make an appointment for listening and viewing. The AIIS Campus is on the Delhi Jaipur Highway, easily accessible by road or metro.

For more information, contact us at arce@aiis.edu.in, or Shubha Chaudhuri, Director, ARCE shubha.chaudhuri@aiis.edu.in Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology American Institute of Indian Studies, 22, Sector 32, HUDA Institutional Area Gurgaon. 122001. Phone:91-0124-2381384.. Metro Station HUDA City Centre on the Yellow Line. www.indiastudies.org/ethnomusicology